A Pace Too Fast
by whenifallxx
Summary: A story of a few fifteen year olds who begin to realize the power between friendships, relationships, music, drugs, and school. Centered on Tenten and Sakura's friendship, NaruSaku & the main pairing. Many characters to be involved. SasuTen.
1. prologue

A**.**Pace**.**Too**.**Fast**.**

-;_one_ **prologue**

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Standard Disclaimer Applied

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**notes**: this is REALLY short, but it's supposed to be. upcoming chapters are longer!

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"You may be overwhelmed with fears about moving into the future, for you sense that circumstances will change quickly now and you won't be able to slow the pace. Your insecurities could be stimulated by a powerful person who attempts to control you. Be courageous and stand up to coercion instead of acquiescing."

Two girls sat in silence for a few seconds, trying to interpret the meaning of the horoscope. They were in the cafeteria, during freshman lunch. One girl had dark brown hair, tied up into two buns. She wore dark skinny jeans, and a loose blue shirt that hung off her frail form. The other, had shoulder-length pink hair and bright green eyes. Clothed in khaki cargo shorts and a blank tank-top, she chewed her gum quietly while rereading the passage.

"Sakura?" the brunette prompted.

"Hm, I think it means your going to meet a boy," the girl, Sakura, replied after a few seconds.

"What? There's nothing about that in there," the other girl denied, taking the magazine from her friend.

"Tenten, it doesn't have to be in there. If it gave every single detail, it would never be accurate. But, look. What else besides love happens at a pace that can't be slowed? And, you're _never _intimidated. Except, with guys – 'insecurities could be stimulated by a powerful person'. The only person who would have power over you, is a guy," Sakura reasoned.

"Okay then. But what does it mean to stand up to coercion?" Tenten asked.

Sakura didn't say anything for a few seconds, but took the magazine back from her friend. She reread it a few more times, before looking up.

"I think it's saying to not fall in love with him."

"Why not?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know, I guess we'll have to find out."

Tenten said nothing, but raised an eyebrow skeptically. Sakura laughed, and closed the magazine.

"Come on, let's go get a pretzel, I'm starving."

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**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is appreciated! :)**


	2. the mall

A**.**Pace**.**Too**.**Fast**.**

-;_two _**the mall **

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Standard Disclaimer Applied.

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**notes: **the lyrics used don't belong to me, but to the band specified right afterwards! also, this chapter is a little bit short as well, the next one is longer :)

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_'__.. I want a girl with lips like morphine,  
Blow a kiss that leaves me gasping.  
And I wanna feel that lightning strike me,  
And burn me down..'_

"What are we listening to?"

"Kill Hannah."

"Attack! Attack! yesterday and now _this_? What's tomorrow?"

"Lil Wayne."

The boy had just entered the room - asking about the music - sighed. He actually liked rap too, but his friend's ability to switch between all genres of music so easily never ceased to amaze him.

Naruto was the one who was in control of the music, and he was standing by his closet digging through it to find his acoustic guitar. He had crazy blonde hair that was ear length, but at odd angles – he had cut it with a knife on his own, and had yet to get it fixed up. It contrasted well with his cerulean eyes, which hardly ever didn't show some form of excitement. He wore light denim jeans with a few rips in them, also from the knife, and a red Chiodos shirt.

Another boy, Shikamaru, lay on the bed, sleeping soundlessly. He had on a faded brown Norma Jean shirt, and plaid boxers. His hair was long and dark brown, thrown into a messy pony tail. His face was squished against a pillow.

The last boy, who had asked about the song, was Sasuke. He wore skinny jeans that had a white impression of brass knuckles on the left thigh, and a secret pouch under it. The black Underoath shirt he wore contrasted tragically with his porcelain skin. His eyes were a rare onyx, and his midnight black hair stuck up pointedly, while one piece flapped over his right eye. He took a seat at Naruto's computer, plopping down into the large purple love 'chair'.

"Oh, we're going the mall tonight," Naruto announced, while easing his way onto Sasuke's lap.

"No way," Sasuke replied, shifting over so Naruto slid off his legs, while typing in his login information for MySpace.

"Shikamaru is meeting up with Ino –"

"So he'll leave the house to go out with his girlfriend?" Sasuke cut him off.

"Yeah, basically. Oh, will you go to Sakura's page?"

"Who?" Sasuke asked.

"Go to my new friends, she's got bright pink hair," Naruto replied, pointing at the computer screen as if Sasuke didn't know where to go.

"Like I said, _who_?" Sasuke repeated, clicking on the girl's profile.

"Oh. I saw her at the movies one night, and added her. She goes to our school, and she actually keeps up an interesting conversation. She's cool," Naruto answered, now understanding what Sasuke had meant. "Check her top," he gave the second command.

"Want me to start a bubble bath, while I'm at it?" Sasuke mumbled sarcastically, but at the same time using the Mozilla Trick to view the girl's Top Friends. Naruto was thirteenth.

"Hell yeah," the blonde breathed, and then hopped out of the chair. He pulled out his cell phone, found Sakura's number and texted her.

**via Text:**

Naruto – Yo

Sakura – heeyy.

Naruto – come to the mall tonight? ;)

Sakura – lol, when?

Naruto – uhh, eight.

Sakura – can I bring Tennie?

Naruto – Yeah, I'm with Sasuke.

Sakura – kay. see you later?

Naruto – mhmm!

Sakura – (:

**End of Text.**

"Sakura and Tenten are coming tonight," Naruto announced needlessly. No one really seemed to care – it wasn't unusual for Naruto to meet new friends.

**--**

"Tennie-baby! It's seven thirty-five, let's _go0o0o_," Sakura called towards her bathroom, where Tenten was fixing her hair.

"Egh, hold on. This one piece just won't stay down," she replied.

After a few seconds though, Tenten came out of the bathroom - her hair in the same Chinese-styled buns that they had been in before. While she wore a pair of heavily faded black skinny jeans and a gray tee, Sakura had on cute denim shorts and a teal zip-up hoodie.

"Come on," the pinkette urged.

"You're really excited. It's pretty funny," Tenten said, following her best friend so she wouldn't get her head cut off.

"Well. He's really cute, and fun to talk to. He's great, you'll like him."

"Right. Naruto?"

"Yeah. And, he's bringing his friend Sasuke," Sakura told her, as they reached the bottom of the stairs and headed towards the kitchen.

"Sasuke? That sound's familiar."

"He goes to our school, it's possible that you know him or have at least seen him around."

Tenten merely shrugged as they walked into the kitchen to find Sakura's mom, a woman in her mid-thirties with russet red hair and deep brown eyes. Sakura's bright green eyes came from her father.

"Hey girls, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, Mom. Are you taking us?"

"No, your dad is. I've got some Without a Trace episodes catch up on. He should be in his office," she directed them.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, but mumbled a thanks, as her and Tenten went towards her father's office. "I'll never understand her. He's _working_. And yet she'll make him take us, while she sits down and watches Tv? I can't stand that," Sakura mumbled, feeling guilty now that her dad would have to take them.

Tenten gave a sympathizing frown, knowing that this one of the rare things that had absolutely bothered her friend, but not knowing quite what to say.

"Hey daddy. Could you take us to the mall?" Sakura asked, hesitantly, standing outside his door. She didn't want to make it seem like he had to, but he would know anyway.

"Yeah, what time?" he asked, glancing up from the computer.

"Uh, whenever you're ready," she replied, trying hard to make it sound like it didn't matter.

"I'll take you now, just gave me two minutes."

"Okay, thanks."

The girls walked out of the hallway, and towards the front door. They waited patiently, until ten minutes had passed. Then Sakura's dad, with his distracted gaze, slipped on his sneakers, and took them to the mall. He didn't bother questioning if they were meeting up with anyone – he had his work still on his mind.

**--**

"I'll go find Ino now, talk to you guys later," Shikamaru yawned, while excusing himself. All though he was a nice guy, his first priority was always his girlfriend. The two had been going out for six months now, and were very close. Naruto thought it was cute – Sasuke found it annoying.

"Why did we have to come?" Sasuke asked, pulling out his cell phone to look at the time. Eight twenty-five.

"I don't know. It's better then sitting at home, right?"

"Hn," Sasuke didn't bother arguing with his friend.

"Besides, Sakura and Tenten are going to be here in two seconds. I told them we were outside of Auntie Anne's about three moments ago," Naruto reassured him.

A moment later, the blonde spotted his new friends.

"Yo!" he called, taking a few steps over to the two, smiling like he always did.

"Hey, Naruto. This is Tenten; Tenten, Naruto," Sakura introduced the two, gesturing as she went.

"Hey, what's up?" Naruto asked casually.

"Not much," Tenten replied honestly.

"Aye, Sasuke? This is Sakura and Tenten," Naruto pointed to each girl, even though Sasuke already knew.

"Hey," he greeted, mostly uninterestedly.

"You guys hungry?" Naruto asked.

"A little, actually," Sakura replied.

"How about some subway?"

"Sure."

Naruto smiled, and started heading for the Food Court. Sakura followed, as did Tenten, but not without glancing to the Auntie Anne's.

_"Honestly, who could choose subway over Auntie Anne's?"_ she wondered to herself.

Sasuke saw her look over to the delicious smelling pretzel place, and gazed at the place himself. It was one of his favorites. So, he made the decision to go there instead.

"You getting a pretzel?" he heard the one girl call out. He turned his head to face her.

"Yeah," he replied. She looked from Naruto and Sakura, and then back to him.

"Good idea," she said, walking towards him while digging out her wallet.

There were three people already in line, ordering from the guy who Tenten could have sworn had been there since she was eight, and had first moved to New York. He was tall, wiry, and had short black hair with black framed glasses. She couldn't imagine him in any other color, being so familiar with his blue work shirt.

"Hi, can I help you?" the pretzel-guy asked, snapping Tenten out of her thoughts. She looked at Sasuke to gesture for him to go, but he had beaten her to it.

"You go," he said simply, and tilted his head back up to the menu hanging over the counter.

"All right, thanks."

She ordered a regular pretzel with sweet honey mustard and a small lemonade, paying pretzel-guy with a five dollar bill. After receiving her change and food, she stepped to the side, and went around the small corner to get a napkin and straw. It was too noisy to here what Sasuke was ordering, but she could see his lips moving when she looked up.

As she stuck the bright yellow straw through the lid, Sasuke had found his way over, and had grabbed one for his own Dutch Ice. He plucked it through, and took a long sip. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he'd show any signs of brain freeze; but he seemed okay. Tenten handed him a napkin, he nodded in acknowledgement, and they started walking towards the Subway.

"Is that…a cinnamon pretzel with cheese?" Tenten asked, seeing the dip with his already sugared pretzel.

"Yeah, it's good," he answered, and took a seat at a four-person table. She sat across from him.

"Seriously?" she mumbled, raising an eyebrow.

He didn't answer, but peeled off the lid on the cheese, and placed it to the side. Then he broke off a small piece of the pretzel, dipped it in, and handed it to her. She stared at it.

"Try it."

"…All right," she agreed, and took it from him. Not bothering to inspect it anymore, she took a bite of the piece he gave her. And, surprisingly, it was really good.

"That's not bad," she mused, licking some of the cinnamon off her fingers.

"I know." He took a bite himself.

"Hm, what gave you the idea to do that?" she asked, taking a piece off of her pretzel that was the same size he had given her, and putting it on the napkin in front of him. He looked up at her, questioningly. "It's only fair," she said offhandedly, still waiting for his answer.

"It was a dare. Just with pickles, ketchup, and cream cheese mixed in."

"Ew. How'd that taste?"

"Pretty bad. Anything with pickles is always the worst," he remarked.

"Yeah. Who dared you?"

"My brother."

"Oh? How old is he?" she asked, swirling the pretzel around in the mustard.

"Eighteen. He's a senior at Wildehyde," he replied briskly. Wildehyde High School was where they went.

"You guys close?"

"Yeah," he shrugged.

Before Tenten asked another question, Sakura popped out of nowhere, and took a seat next to Tenten. As the two looked over to her, Naruto also took his seat.

"Oh, that's where you guys went," Naruto figured, looking at the pretzel wrappers.

"Hn," Sasuke replied, not bothering to make an unnecessary remark.

Tenten just smiled; Sakura was right, Naruto was cool - but so was his friend.

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**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is appreciated. **


	3. conversations

A.Pace.Too.Fast.

-;_three _**conversations**

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Standard Disclaimer Applied

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"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death. What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...then you finish off as an orgasm."(**1**)

Unsurprising to Tenten, Sakura had easily picked up the latest Gossipy magazine, and instantly turned to something worth reading aloud. She could have sworn it was an innate ability planted into the pink-haired girl's body.

"That was … interesting, and thought-provoking," Tenten concluded. Sakura smiled absentmindedly, scanning for more treats to share.

The two had just returned from the mall, after getting picked up from Sakura's dad – Kohaku. It was ten fifteen by the time he got the girls, and now it reached around eleven. They were hanging out in Sakura's bedroom, Tenten on the computer – on MySpace, as of course, while the other girl was sprawled out on the bed.

"What did you think of tonight?" Tenten asked, after a minute or two of content silence.

"It was great," Sakura answered simply. While Tenten was one who liked to talk and think things out, Sakura was an independent-thinker who could just absorb everything and move past it. Often, it made Tenten feel a little out of place, but she noted that it always worked out fine in the end.

"Yeah, it was. I didn't recognize Sasuke, but he seemed nice enough," Tenten said.

"I think I have Chem Honors with him; he's the silent type, eh? Kind of a dick, but he is pretty funny," Sakura remarked.

Tenten smiled faintly. Sakura was right, but it wasn't quite _that_ simple. He held a straight poker face, except the usual smirk or one-second smile. Whenever he said something, it was dully sarcastic and, no doubt, entertaining. She recalled when him and Naruto were discussing a friend or something of theirs, named Lee Rock. Apparently, his AIM screenname was _LeeRock _(**2**). Sasuke had muttered under his breath, "Oh, that's definitely pedophile-proof." While the girls sputtered with laughs, Naruto seem accustomed to such thing and had just carried on the conversation with his best friend.

"Yeah, I know. Naruto sure is a character, though."

"That's fo sho. He's crazy, I don't know he manages it."

"Fo sho? Haha, yeah. I can't picture him just sitting, or not talking – or even sleeping," Tenten said.

"Good point. He's always on the move,"

"So. What's his girlfriend history like?"

"..Tons," Sakura replied simply.

"Whatcha mean?" Tenten asked, swiveling the chair around to face her, showing that she was paying attention. Sakura talked more if she knew a person cared, all though it did not stop her from rambling aimlessly sometimes.

"Well, there's been a lot of girls, he said. None that really meant anything, apparently. Longest one was two years though,"

"Wow. And it didn't mean anything?" Tenten could hardly believe that.

"Not sure. But it ended badly, and apparently she's a real terror now."

"Terror?" Tenten laughed a little.

"Yeah, like a cokeslut."

Tenten stopped laughing, and sighed a little. A cokeslut was what it was, and only had four requirements; you had to be a girl, a _scene _girl, did cocaine, and had lost your virginity. It seemed like there was scene kids everywhere one looked (skinny jeans, colorful hoodies, tube-tops, flip flops, random Hollister thrown in, dyed black hair, lip piercings, etc), but that was only to a few. Some kids didn't even know what scene was.

"That sucks. Mm, howabout Sasuke?" Tenten asked, swinging back around to face the computer.

It's not that Sakura knew everything, but she and Naruto had talked a lot for the past month, and with her simple questions and him being so open, Sakura had learned a lot.

"None," Sakura answered briskly.

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Feel free to say more?" Tenten intoned.

"There isn't anything left to say. That's all I know; forgive me?"

"Forgiven," Tenten said amid a laugh. "It's just odd."

"I don't think so. I can't picture him caring for commitment. I'm sure he's got experience, though."

"No doubt," Tenten mumbled.

Clicking her way through, she found Sasuke's MySpace. His default was simple; looking into a mirror, the shot taken with a cell phone, somewhat fuzzy but not really. He had on a red Fallen shirt, and jeans. Without another glance, she friend requested him.

"Howabout some music?" Sakura suggested.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"ProjectPlaylist. I should be signed in already, and it's on random."

"Sounds good," Tenten agreed, navigating through the internet to find the site.

She had been signed in already, or at least "remembered". Tenten pressed play, and minimized it. After a few second delay, it started; Remembering Sunday, by All Time Low. While Sakura's musical interest were usually punk-indie, Tenten's was more post-hardcore. However, Sakura had a knack for finding very good songs. After a few listens, this particular song had caught on immensely – Tenten had fallen in love with it. Heedlessly, she raised the volume up.

"Because you're young, you're torn between a world of hate, and a world of dreams; so much to lose, so much to gain, so much to fight for, so much to change, (**3**)" Sakura read to her.

"Hm. World of hate? Pfftk. Gas prices aren't _that _high yet," Tenten mumbled. She had a weird way of connecting random things.

"Totally irrelevant? But, yes they are. Three dollars and seventy-eight cents? Just six years ago it was less then half of that."

"Indeed. What ever happened?" Tenten wondered, jokingly.

"Nine-Eleven."

There was a moment of unattended silence. Sakura was from California, moved to NY three years ago. She had known the tragedy, but she hadn't been burned by it like Tenten had, who had lived and still lived only an hour from the once-been Towers. She lost no one, but knowing more then one person who did was enough to make it overly real.

"Maybe the world is full of hate," Tenten said. Nine-Eleven isn't what made the gas prices go up, though. But it sure seemed that everything went downhill after that – then again, maybe that was when she had actually just started looking at what was going on with the world.

"When I saw World Trade Center, I kept waiting for the aliens." It was Sakura who said it and all though a funny statement, both girls were serious. "I mean, Nicolas Cage is stuck under all this debris and rock and everything, right? And there's this scene where stuff starts falling down on him and the other guy. Like, I was just waiting for the creature to come out; something from a Sci-Fi movie. But it didn't."

"I didn't see the movie," Tenten managed to say.

"Hard to believe it was seven years ago."

"Still feels like yesterday," Tenten shrugged. And, "It was Katrina, though."

"The hurricane?"

"Yeah. Stuff in Louisiana got messed up, that's when prices went up to like, two-eighty."

"That doesn't explain why it's almost four dollars now," Sakura pointed out.

"No, it doesn't."

"Want your horoscope?" Sakura asked, changing topic.

Up until now, Tenten had been staring at the computer. But now, she refreshed the page, and said 'sure' to Sakura. The girl was addicted to the predictions, even though most of them didn't apply to any of their current circumstances.

"You are quite capable of managing your schedule so that you can do what you must, but now it may be tough to keep things simple. It's not that you're looking to make anything more complicated. It's just that you feel as if you want something more from life. In the midst of your busy day, take some time to relax your overworked nerves," was the horoscope. And, "Are you nervous?" was Sakura's commentary.

"Nope," she answered honestly.

Anxious, however, she was. _Friend Request Approved._She checked her new friends, and clicked on Sasuke's page.

"Mine was gay. Gay as a hoe – I don't even _have _a 'best friend of the opposite sex'," Sakura announced, disappointed but unsurprised. She lived for the 'scopes that could actually come true, and she listened to them. The ones that made no sense, she disregarded like Fortune Cookies, and forgot them quickly. Today had been a bust.

"Sorry," Tenten said, just to say.

"No you're not," Sakura replied, scanning through a story on Angelina Jolie.

"Hah," was all she said back.

His Myspace page; The background, or layout, was a repeated image that blended together – a flashy image though, gray with swirling color. It was far too trippy for Tenten's preference. The Interests Section had a black comment box with cyan-colored font, and lyrics that she did not recognize but were italicized. His About Me had a comment/message button, his AIM screename, _SaskOnFire _(**4**), and his number for texting. There was no actual 'about me', and his friends and comments were hidden. She clicked Comment. And for the next hour, the conversation flowed simply enough.

**via MySpace comments.**

Tenten: quite a seizure-inducing layout, you've got theree.

Sasuke: It's nice, isnt it?

Tenten: lol, not the word I would've chosen?(:

Sasuke: well then, not my fault you don't see its beauty.

Tenten: you could put it that way.

Sasuke: lol. What're you up to?

Tenten: at Sakura's, juss' hanging out & stuff; probably going to get some fo0d soon. howabout youu?

Sasuke: chillin', on AIM. got a screenname?

Tenten: mhhm. _Au Revoir Ten (_**5**). but I'm not on right now, Sakura's got 6.0 AIM and it hates me more then i hate it.

Sasuke: Undownload it.

Tenten: cos I know how to do that?D:

Sasuke: its simple, google it?

Tenten: (: lazy, lol.

Sasuke: I know how it is, lol.

Tenten: haha, yeahh. Aha I've gotta goo0; Sakura wants on.

Sasuke: Okay. Ttyl.

**end MySpace comments.**

Sakura did go on, and on AIM as well. As far as she could tell, Naruto had IM-ed her. They had a good conversation going. Tenten, meanwhile, reflected on the last conversation she had.

Sasuke seemed more open online. Well, not open. But easier to talk to, and not as blunt. She knew that "lol"-ing meant nothing; it was a habit to type these days, not an actual expression. But it still made her feel accomplished. Plus, there was the "ttyl". That could have been a habit too, but it could have at least meant he didn't absolutely hate talking to her? She was over-analyzing it. Just like she usually did. She stopped thinking about it.

White Lines & Red Lights by Between the Trees was on, as she closed her eyes;

_Late night, driving home together  
and at red lights we press our lips together  
and we're holding tight now  
slow it down now  
Let's take our time  
let the moment last  
until it feels right  
holding back  
and not getting to carried away  
Let the music fade. (**6**)  
_

And she did let the music fade, as she let her self drift into sleep. When she'd wake, she'd find herself shivering with no blanket and the fan on full blast, a pounding headache, and a comfy-looking Sakura to her right. But for now she was lost in the dreams she could only rarely remember.

**-?-**

"Pick me up."

"Its _eight _o'clock," the voice on the other side of the phone emphasized, grouchily.

"I know," Sasuke replied briskly.

"Go back to bed," it growled.

"Itachi. It'll only take thirty minutes of your beauty sleep."

"Right. Thirty minutes of peace I'll never get back. You better be fuckin' ready and standing outside when I get there," his older brother, Itachi, threatened.

Sasuke just hung up, rolling his eyes. There were only a few things Itachi truly cared about, and those were the only things he'd stay adamant on. Sleep, not being one of the things he treasured, was one that Sasuke could bend for his will.

The kid had a built in alarm clock. Unless he was up till four AM, he'd be up at seven in the morning. Since Shikamaru practically lived in the night, and slept during the day, there was no chance of him being around for quite awhile. And Naruto was leaving at ten for something he couldn't really remember, so he had decided to call his brother now. He had his permit, but he'd have to wait eight more months for the license. He was almost counting down the days till then.

It only took Itachi ten minutes, and Sasuke _had _been outside and ready when he got there. He didn't feel like pissing him off, so he did as was told. Itachi drove a little, red car – Dodge Stratus 2001. Sasuke hopped in the front, without saying a word to his brother. Neither initiated talking, yet.

Itachi was eighteen, six-foot-one, and a mature version of his kid brother. Porcelain skin, almost black hair, onyx eyes that caught light but didn't glow; he did, though, have muscle Sasuke hadn't quite tuned himself to. The Older Uchiha wore Abercrombie & Fitch boxers, with a black AFI tee. His hair was ruffled, from a hand or just sleep Sasuke did not know.

The ride was silent, up until the car arrived to the driveway. Itachi took out the car keys, and Sasuke almost opened his door. But Itachi stopped him.

"Wait,"

"Hn?" Sasuke grunted in response, fingers wrapped around the handle, but facing his brother.

"Friends are coming here tonight, you staying or going out?"

Sasuke thought for a moment. "Staying," he replied, as if he hadn't just spent time thinking on his decision.

"You know it's all your choice," Itachi said, almost brother-like. Sasuke nodded, and got out of the car.

_No it's not._

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**notes:**

1- I don't own this quote, but I don't know who does either.

2- Don't IM that screenname! I just made it up off of the top of my head :)

3- see number 1

4- see number 2

5- see number 2

6- those lyrics belong to Between the Trees!

**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is appreciated. **


	4. bullshit

A.Pace.Too.Fast.

-;_four_ **bullshit**

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Standard Disclaimer Applied.

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**notes: **if Itachi is OOC, i apologize. this will _never_ be a NejTen - even if it sometimes seems that way.

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**via School Computer messaging. **

To: Haruno, Sakura

Subject: this class,

Body:

Is so boring. I know I've said it ten thousand times, but seriously – what made us choose to take it?):

--

To: Tanaka, Tenten

Subject: RE: this class,

Body:

Aha, I know. Uhm, because the teacher for Business is a terrible, therefore taking Computer Skills obviously proved to be the better choice?

--

To: Haruno, Sakura

Subject: RE: RE: this class,

Body:

I guesso. Can the teacher read everything we say?

--

To: Tanaka, Tenten

Subject: RE: RE: RE: this class,

Body:

Yep. Does seem rather pointless doing this, especially since yr sitting right next to me?

--

**end messaging.**

Tenten read the latest message, and looked to Sakura with a scowl.

"Do you always have to ruin things with your realism?"

"I'm pragmatic, I can't help it," Sakura defended herself.

"You could try,"

"Or – you could try being down-to-earth, instead of so up-in-the-clouds."

Tenten made a face.

"Didn't think so," Sakura pointed out, flashing a quick smile.

"There's a show Saturday," Tenten said.

"Oh yeah? Whose playing?" Sakura asked, interested.

"Before I Killed It, The Chosen Kids, These Words of Yours, and I'unno who else. It's at Spawns, starts at nine."

"I'm game."

"Good, 'cause you were going anyway," Tenten said.

"You don't control me," Sakura replied defiantly.

"Oh, little one – how much you not know," Tenten whispered.

"You're a freak," Sakura said, lovingly, and laughing.

Tenten grinned back.

**-?-**

The cafeteria at Wildehyde was practically full on the mid-afternoon of Wednesday. Today, they were serving chicken nuggets with Mac-and-cheese, or Mexican Pizza. Neither was much impressive.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru were sitting at a table closer to the back, nearest the Snapple Vending Machine – none of them were eating, just talking – and playing cards.

"Bullshit."

"God damn!"

"Pick 'em up,"

Naruto did, and tried fitting them into his already large hand, scowling as he did so.

"Two tens," Sasuke said, placing the cards down, his face expressionless.

"One eleven," Shikamaru played, in the middle of a laugh.

"Bullshit," Sasuke accused. Shikamaru picked up the cards, a small grunt his only response.

"Oh! Four Jacks," Naruto threw down, excitedly.

"One Queen." It was Sasuke, and it had been his last card.

"Bullshit," Naruto said, just for the hell of it.

Sasuke flipped it over – it was a queen.

"Have you ever lost?" Shikamaru questioned, putting the rest of his cards into the pile.

"Don't think so," Sasuke answered.

"Faggot," Naruto murmured, collecting the cards to shuffle.

Sasuke smirked, and as he reached for his chocolate milk. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two girls walking towards the vending machine, or them. One had pink hair; it took only a millisecond for him to figure out who they were. He looked over to them, catching Tenten's gaze as he placed the empty milk down.

"Hey," she said, nodding to him, scanning her eyes over to the rest of them.

"Yo," Sasuke said casually, practically getting cut off by Naruto, who saw them too and hopped up. He hugged each of them, and invited them to sit down. Sakura took a seat next to Naruto, facing Shikamaru, while Tenten sat next to the pineapple-head and across from Sasuke. He introduced the girls to Shikamaru, who smiled respectively.

"What're you guys playing?" Sakura asked, watching Naruto shuffle the cards.

"Bullshit. Want in?" Naruto replied.

"Uhm, maybe next round. I'm going to get that Snapple, be right back."

"Howabout you, Tenten?" Naruto asked.

"Sure," she answered, somewhat hesitantly.

"Prepare to lose – Sasuke kicks everyone's ass," Shikamaru warned, as Naruto dealed.

"Maybe, maybe not. Uno and Bullshit are my best games," she said, looking at Sasuke.

"Let's see that," Sasuke put the challenge in his eyes, staring back at her.

She half-smiled, as she scooped up her cards. She had the Ace of Spades, so she started.

"Two Aces."

The game started off smoothly at first, with hardly a lie, since the cards had been distributed evenly enough. But, then Sasuke placed down a four. Tenten only had one four, and not much had changed about his demeanor – however, he did not look at her, let alone glance, at her after placing the card down.

"Bullshit," she called quickly, without thinking about it too much more.

Sasuke looked up at her, his eyes a fraction bit wider. He didn't make a move for the card, so she did. It was a Jack. She smiled softly, and slid the pile of cards over to him. He picked 'em up, and sorted them in, while Naruto made an impressed whistle.

"How'd you know?" the blonde asked her. Sasuke looked up, awaiting the answer too, the small trace of arrogance still on his face.

"That would spoil it for the rest of the game," she answered, and "Continue on." She was feeling a little more confident – with the game, and with the people.

She didn't catch Sasuke any more times, but he did catch her – it was about the fifth time she lied, and it was on a Queen. No one was going to even question it, but Sasuke's crisp voice sounded clearly, and teasingly;

"Fuckin' bull_shit." _

She said nothing, but narrowed her eyes at him, as she picked up the pile.

And he didn't know it was part of her plan.

The rest of the game went quickly, her and Sasuke calling BS on the other two, and them calling it falsely on formers. She caught Sasuke once, but only with two cards in the pile. Without him realizing it, she finished it off.

"Three three's. I win."

"Nu uh," Naruto accused, and checked the cards. They were right.

Shikamaru chuckled a little, which was interrupted by his own yawn.

"Look's like you've lost one," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Sasuke lifted his lips in a demented sort of smile, right as the bell rang. Naruto and Sakura got up, talking amiably already, and headed off. Shikamaru left on his own, while Tenten slid her bag up on her shoulder, and collected all the cards. She looked up, and handed them to Sasuke.

"Good win," he complimented, taking the deck from Tenten, his hand temporarily overlapping hers.

"Thanks," she replied, smiling softly, walking to the other side of the table, next to him – then, the two walked on, surrounded by other no-longer hungry teenagers.

"What do you have next?" she asked.

"Mckinnon. Anatomy," he replied, stretching his arm past her – briefly she wondered if he was about to slip his arm around her waist, but brushed the notion off immediately when his arm returned back, and focused too hard on keeping her cool to wonder what he had done.

"Oh, I had that earlier," she stumbled out.

"How was the test?"

"Cake, if you studied."

"If I didn't?"

"Look over skeletal muscles of the arms, and the last four vocabulary words on page 346," she recommended.

"Hn,"

"Those are the short answers, the rest is multiple choice."

"You ace this?"

"No. I didn't study."

He looked over to her – she smiled, laughing a little. He smirked.

"Alright. See ya," he said, taking a left up the stairs. She didn't bother saying anything, but watched him for a second, before continuing on.

She got to English II Honors about two minutes later, and she took a seat in the back, next to the windows. Outside, it was looking kind of cloudy, with the sun barely peaking through. The bell rang then, signaling classes start. She pulled up her bag, and reached for her binder, and pen. When she opened her binder, something fell out, and landed on the floor.

She leaned over, and picked it up – it was a card, a Four of Diamonds.

_"Three three's. I win." _Tenten recalled the way she had thought Sasuke was about to slip his arm around her, when it passed over to her other side, across her bag..

She gasped – he had been after her in the game, if she hadn't won, his four would have made _him _the winner. Slowly her face crept into a smile though, as she let the card dance between her fingers.

**-?-**

Sasuke got home around 2:30, with school being out at 1:45. He wasted no time lazily getting to the computer, after dropping a textbook and binder onto his bed. He signed into MySpace, AIM, and his email. Ten minutes later, he got an IM.

**Au Revoir Ten**: yr a slick one, y'know.

**SaskOnFire**: How so ?

**Au Revoir Ten**: lol, the card.

**SaskOnFire**: alright, I agree with you.

**Au Revoir Ten**: haha, how'd you do on that test?

**SaskOnFire**: good, the tips helped.

**Au Revoir Ten**: yr welcome (;

**SaskOnFire**: lol. Thanks.

**Au Revoir Ten**: no problem. What're you up to?

**SaskOnFire**: chillin. You?

**Au Revoir Ten**: not much, just got done dinner, finishing up that English homework.

**SaskOnFire**: Finish the book?

**Au Revoir Ten**: yep. Now just doing the discussion questions.

**SaskOnFire**: still have to do those.

**Au Revoir Ten**: yeah. They're really stupid. If they were questions, I wouldn't of minded 'em. But they're just like, "summarize pgs 314-317". Makes it so much more boring,

**SaskOnFire**: mhm, I know what you mean. I usually just copy them from Nara.

**Au Revoir Ten**: Nara? I don't think I know her.

**SaskOnFire**: lol, no. Shikamaru Nara.

**Au Revoir Ten**: Oh, lmao. Wow, I feel dumb.

**SaskOnFire**: not much out of the ordinary?

**Au Revoir Ten**: no, not really actually (x

**SaskOnFire**: lol.

**Au Revoir Ten**: hahh. So, you've got plans for the weekend?

**SaskOnFire**: nah. Naruto's Friday? I don't know yet.

**Au Revoir Ten**: ah, i see

**SaskOnFire**: you?

**Au Revoir Ten**: uhm, the show Saturday with Sakura I thinkk.

**SaskOnFire**: at Spawns?

**Au Revoir Ten**: mhmm. The Chosen Kids are playinggg.

**SaskOnFire**: they're alrighttt.

**Au Revoir Ten:** yeah – they're my favorite.

**SaskOnFire**: I like Disco Babes.

**Au Revoir Ten**: oh. really?

**SaskOnFire**: you're gullible.

**Au Revoir Ten**: oh hahh so I guess that's a no.

**SaskOnFire**: correct.

**Au Revoir Ten**: lol. who'se yr favorite then?

**SaskOnFire**: Idunno . Before I Killed it?

**Au Revoir Ten**: they're playing saturday too.

**SaskOnFire**: I'll prob check it out then.

**Au Revoir Ten**: sounds go0d(:

And they talked for awhile, until Tenten left for the rest of her homework. That was when Sasuke realized he was hungry, with a small uneasy grumble from his stomach. He got up, clicking the monitor off. He walked down the hallway, and into the kitchen, where Itachi was pacing around, arguing on the phone. It sounded like a girl on the other line – a not so happy one.

Sasuke grabbed a fork, and then went to the fridge, grabbing leftover Chinese food. He opened up the Pork Lo Mein (no vegetables), and stuck the utensil in. He listened indolently as he ate the greasy noodles.

Five minutes later, Itachi was off the phone. He calmly placed it down on the counter, and then ran a hand through his long, dark hair. He looked at his younger brother, and sighed, as he pushed his problems past him.

"Where've you been?" he asked.

"My room," Sasuke answered, bluntly.

"The whole time? I haven't see you since three, and its..." he started, and then glanced back at the digital clock on the oven, then finished, "Eleven thirty."

"Yeah," Sasuke answered, while Itachi pulled out a Brisk from the fridge.

"Doing what?"

"Computer."

"What's going down?" he asked, perking up.

"Nothing."

Itachi stared at him.

"I was just talking to someone – lost track of time."

"Oh. Alright," he said, disinterestedly. Then he took his iced tea, and left the kitchen. Sasuke took a bite of pork, staring at the clock. He'd no idea it was this late.

**-?-**

Itachi went down the hallway, heading for his room, when he stopped outside of Sasuke's. Without a second thought, he went into the room, silently taking a seat at the computer. He turned on the monitor, and found an Away Message up, with one IM still open. He clicked it:

**Au Revoir Ten**: lolol. :) well I gotta goo .

**SaskOnFire**: alright.

**Au Revoir Ten**: ttyl?

**SaskOnFire**: mhmm.

**Au Revoir Ten**: kay – peace,

**SaskOnFire**: Cya

_**Au Revoir Ten is Away.**_

"Some_one?_ Some _girl,_" Itachi muttered, thinking of Sasuke's words two moments ago. Then he minimized things back to where they had been, turned the monitor off, and left the room. He was just reaching his own bedroom, when his phone vibrated once. He turned it around in his hand, and then flipped it open.

Text fr Neji Hyuuga

At 11: 34pm

--

come over.

--

Itachi looked at it for a few seconds, before replying with an 'alright'. He grabbed jeans and shoes, and threw on a Scary Kids Scaring Kids tee. Then he left the house, sending one more text.

Text fr Itachi

At 11: 41

--

i'm going to Neji's. come over tm night.

I know yr grades are fine, so dnt worry about hmwk.

--

Sasuke only looked at it, and then called Naruto.

"Yo, what's up?" his best friend answered, on the last ring.

"Going to Neji's tomorrow,"

"Don't."

"Hn,"

There was a moment of silence, before Naruto replied.

"I'll meet you there then."

Another moment.

"Okay," Sasuke said.

"Yeah. What'd you do tonight?"

"Idiot. I was online the whole time, as were you," Sasuke replied.

"Eh? Oh. Oh, shut up," Naruto mumbled indignantly, before launching into what _exactly _he did that afternoon.

**-?-**

"Do you have a yearbook?"

"Yeah, over there."

"Last years?"

"Yep. Who you looking for?"

"Some girl my brother was talking to."

Itachi was at his best friend's house – Neji Hyuuga. Neji was a Senior, also at Wildehyde. The two had met earlier that school year, and had become instantly inseparable. Neji was tall, muscular (more so then Itachi), had long, thin dark-brown hair, and very gray eyes. He always came off as strong, dark, and quiet. But mostly, he was just completely care-free. His mom and dad were scientist, somewhere down in Antarctica, so for now he lived with his Uncle and two cousins – one a freshman, and the other a fifth grader.

The Uchiha was scanning through the Freshman pictures, looking for a Tenten.

"Do you know her last name?"

"Nope."

"First?"

"Tenten."

"Oh, I think I might know her."

"What?" Itachi looked up from the yearbook.

"She's watched over Hanabi before."

"Babysat?"

"Basically."

"What's her last name?"  
"I don't pay attention to that kind of shit," he answered, as he lay on his bed, PS2 controller in hand, eyes glued onto the TV screen.

"Mm." Itachi kept looking through the book, until he came across a Tenten Tanaka.

"Tanaka?"

"Yeah, that sounds familiar."

Itachi studied the picture. The girl was wearing a dark purple shirt, had brown hair, brown eyes, and a fair complexion. Her hair was down, and curled – she looked somewhat uncomfortable, but mostly bored. Her smile was weak, but not unhappy; just a fake one.

"Nothing special," Itachi concluded.

"Let me see," Neji said, pausing the game, and taking the yearbook Itachi leaned over to give him. He looked at the picture, and nodded.

"Yeah, she looks different now."

"How?"

"Well, she looks like a freshman in that."

"Mm."

"And, she doesn't look like that anymore. She's kind of chesty, but modest. Her hair's always up, and she's one confident bitch."

"Confident?"

"In the way where she doesn't know it, just comes off that way." Neji explained with a half-hearted shrug.

"You've checked her out before." Itachi didn't make it a question.

"Yeah. Almost asked her out."

"But you didn't?"

"She would of said yes. And then broke it off a week later."

"You're not her type?"

"Not mine either," Neji answered.

Itachi thought for a few seconds, before closing the yearbook with a sly smile.

"Talk to her tomorrow, will you?"

"Why?"

"We'll just see if she wants to chill, that's all."

"Sasuke is coming tomorrow," Neji reminded him.

"I know."

Neji looked at him, a smile cracking onto his face. "You're an evil bastard. If he sees her here…"

Itachi smirked in response.

**-?-**

The next morning, Tenten was walking in the Freshman Hall, heading for Art Class. She was twenty minutes early to school, like usual, and didn't have Art till third period, but she had to go to drop off her clay she was bringing to work with.

She was about to turn the corner to the 'Creativity Hall', when she heard someone call her name. Swiftly she turned around, and saw someone she hadn't quite suspected.

"Neji, hey," she said, readjusting the bag of clay in her hands.

"Here," he said simply, taking the clay for her.

"Oh, uh, thanks," she said.

"No problem. What're you doing tonight?" he asked. He sounded slightly out of it, as he scanned his eyes over her. She had on yellow skinny pants (from 5-7-9 no doubt), and a black three-quarter sleeved shirt that clung to her form, with her black, worn-out Converse.

"Nothing?" she replied, looking at him curiously, leaning against the wall slightly.

"Come over?" he asked, giving her a thin-lipped smile.

"Need me to watch Hanabi?" she asked.

He laughed quietly, taking a small step towards her. She was aware of the space between them that just grew drastically shorter.

"No, we'd never ask you last minute like that."

"Oh, well I'm usually not doing much, it wouldn't really be a big deal."

"It's just the principle of it. My uncle … he's just that way?" Neji said, shrugging.

"I think I know what you mean," she offered, remembering all the time's Mr. Hyuuga had even paid her specifically to the minute she was at the household.

"Yeah. Come to hang out?" he suggested.

"Sure," she said after a few seconds.

"All right, meet me here after school," he said.

"Okay," she agreed.

He gave her another smile, as he placed the clay back into her arms – letting his hand linger over one of hers, as he watched her eyes carefully. She didn't break, not to his surprise. Most girls would have blushed, or looked uncomfortable, or even made a move back. But she stayed just a she was, a small smile on her lips; and he could swear a part of her was daring him to try something.

"See ya' later Tennie," he said, taking a step back, and then leaving.

"Later," she called out, and then hurriedly went into the Art Room, wondering briefly _what_ exactly inspired his invitation.

* * *

**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is appreciated.**


	5. knife called lust

A.Pace.Too.Fast.

-;_five_ **knife called lust**

-

-

Standard Disclaimer Applied

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* * *

**notes:** this story was inspired by quite a few things, and one of said things was a song by Hollywood Undead. the lyrics are used throughout the story, italicized and centered. I don't own them. listen to the song for the full-effect. :D

* * *

_Let's go right now!_

_I look alive, I'm dead inside._

_My heart has holes and black blood flows._

_We'll do some drugs, we'll fall in love and get fucked up while the world just shrugs._

_With no thought logically,_

_We're wandering the streets so aimlessly._

_I hate to see these kids just being put down so painlessly._

There were seven days in a week, and only one of them went by quickly – Thursday. Knowing tomorrow would be Friday, would cast a spell of relief, causing the day to speed up. Fridays, even though they were actually Fridays, went by slow, due to the anticipation of the 1:45 bell that would release everyone for the weekend. Therefore, Thursday was the best day of the week. Well, in Sakura's opinion at least.

It was a crisp March day, with the sun shining like it was spring, and the wind blowing as if it were winter. It was her favorite time of the year. She wore a thinning dark-purple Cobra Starship tee, and denim straight-legged jeans, with a tightened upside down V slit on the outside-bottom of each pant leg. It showed that her red Chucks with checkered laces were high-tops, and a small portion of her pale skin. Her shoulder length hair was pulled back in an array of bobby pins, with a few quirky pieces flinging out casually.

She was walking to her third period class, which was one of the few that were in the extra portables. She didn't mind though, she had always enjoyed the three minute walk alone, no matter the weather. Just as she reached the steel ramp that led to the door of Portable-07, she felt a small buzz from her pocket. Shifting the text and note book in her arm, she pulled out her small, black phone. It was a text, from Naruto. She smiled carelessly, and texted back, "gray, actually. yurs?" He was asking simple questions, in an attempt to know her better. She was enjoying it.

_And people say you dye your hair and wear tight jeans; that doesn't mean,_

_That you can't scream, or like loud noise - you got a choice, you have a voice._

_And just because you showed no love and hate on us, you fucked our trust._

_Now watch me thrust this Knife Called Lust into my chest until it busts._

"Something came to my attention last week," a man with silver-touched hair announced, sitting on a clutter-filled mahogany desk. Groans erupted from the five columns and four rows of students in front of him.

"Easy," he warned, a warm smile appearing on his thin lips. A slow silence followed.

"Thank you," he said, and then continued. "For your midterm, you were assigned to do a detailed report on the country of your choice. A simple assignment that touched less on intelligence, and more on tenacity. Those of you who put time and effort into it, finished with an A. The rest of you, varied from D's to B's. Now, I realize that that project was not creative, nor fun."

Many of the kids, all sophomore World-History takers, let out a grunt of agreement. "No kidding, Hatake!" one, even yelled out. "Mr. Hatake," the teacher corrected, with a tone that said I'm-used-to-it-and-don't-care-but-i-enjoy-reprimanding-you-anyway.

"That was for your midterm, and this upcoming project will be for your final," he said, pausing. "And for fun." The class smiled at that.

"Before I start though, would this class as a whole agree that I'm a smart, intelligible, trustworthy, and good man?" he asked. All though nervous now, they replied with a yes.

"Good. Because, you'll be working with someone for this project, and no. You won't be picking your partner, I will." There was heavy disapproval.

"_Guys._ You just said you could trust me? Now, I'll be assigning you with someone you don't know – however, with someone I'm at least 98 sure you will get along with. Now, let me explain the assignment, and then I'll read out the paper with the matching names on it." He took a second break, picking up the fake apple on his messy desk, and flipped it to the other hand. Then, he continued.

"There are six hundred tenth graders at this school, and you're separated into three colors, whether you knew it or not. Red, Yellow, and Blue. This class is full of Yellow's. There are about two-hundred of you, and you don't have any classes with Red's or Blue's. There are three sets of teachers, but we teach no one certain color. All though this system works efficiently, there is the major flaw. Social Deprivation. You still encounter the other four-hundred students, perhaps at lunch, and of course some of you know each other anyhow. But that is _four-hundred_ sixteen year olds that you do not get the chance to work with, socially – and academically. So, I've paired you up with either a Red or a Blue, and you will get a chance to know them, their study and learning habits, their lifestyle, their philosophies – their _mind_. Of course, this is not a science project. See the person you're paired with as a new friend, not an experiment. The only work you will have to do is be yourself, spare at least one day a week to be with them, fill out the worksheets I give you, and write a journal entry every day, a minimum of 40 words each. Simple enough?"

Fifth period was murmuring to each other, not sure to agree with it or not. After a few seconds, they did though. A girl in the back, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, raised her hand.

"Hatake!?" she called out, impatiently.

"Ino." He didn't bother to correct her, but let out a sigh.

"Will we be paired up with same genders, or opposite?" she asked, curiously.

"Shikamaru is a Yellow, Ino," he answered, albeit a question she had not asked. She didn't flush, but smiled cheekily.

"Oh. That's right, I have Algebra II with him. Still, how do the pairings go?"

"Same gender, with a few exceptions," he responded.

"Okay. Can you pass that paper out then?" she asked, still curious, and still impatient.

"Ms. Yamanka, why don't you come up and read it for us?" he asked, placing the apple down, and grabbing an Orange piece of paper from behind him.

"All right," she said brightly, getting up. She was dressed in denim shorts that were once jeans, but had been cut off right above the knee, and a light blue Hollister shirt. All though in flip-flops, her walk to the front of the classroom was practically silent.

She took the list from him, and found her name before looking at the others.

Yamanka, Ino – Haruno, Sakura.

Ino looked up from the paper, and at her teacher – her favorite, actually.

"Sakura?" she asked.

"A patient girl, with lots of spunk," he told her.

"What does she look like?"

Well, he knew two words that could do that fair enough. "Pink hair."

"Oh, that girl. That isn't natural, right?" she muttered, more to herself, skeptically.

He smiled. "Save your questions _for her_, later. Now, read the list off, please."

"Oh, right…" she said, then turned back to the class, and started sharing its information.

In the meantime, Kakashi Hatake hopped off his desk, and returned to the chair behind it. He picked up a small, orange book from a drawer in his desk, and got lost into his world as he began to read.

_This love; this hate,_

_Is burning me away._

_It's hard to face that we're all the same_

_This love; this hate,_

_Is burning me away._

_It's harder times like these that never change._

It was two fifteen, when Neji opened his front door, and side-stepped to his left, allowing Tenten to enter. She quietly mumbled thanks, as she walked into the huge house. It was four floors, with ten bedrooms. How many bathrooms, she didn't even know; she contemplated asking, but decided against it.

She knew Hanabi's room was on the second floor, but she'd no idea where they would be going – she doubted it would be her room.

"Here," he said for the second time that day. He took her bag, and started heading down a hallway, then into a room. She followed, inwardly thinking of pros and cons for having a room on the first floor.

The room was painted a deep red, and was heavily unorganized. The walk-in closet was open, with some clothes hung up, and others laying on the floor. Also littering the floor, was random objects, shoes, games and their controllers, a few water bottles, and an empty, dirty plate or two. Surprisingly, the King sized bed with a white down comforter was made, tucked in professionally – Tenten guessed a housemaid did it. She turned her attention back to him, after he placed her bag down on the corner of the bed, and walked back towards her.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little," she replied.

"Me too," he said, and then directed them to the kitchen. Like everything in the house, it was grand. Dark cherry wood cabinets and a very high ceiling made her feel intimidated, but the warm brown walls counteracted as a comforting agent.

He pulled out bread, and an assortment of lunch meats and cheeses.

"Aa. Choices," she smiled, taking a seat at the counter.

"Yep," he laughed a little, getting mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, and more. "So, what do you want?"

"Ham?"

"And..."

"Cheddar," she offered.

He nodded, and went to the sink to wash his hands, before grabbing two slices of breads.

"Mayo is nice, too," she added after a few seconds.

He smiled lightly, as he kept working. She put her elbows up on the counter, cupping her face with her two hands, and watched him peacefully.

After a few minutes, he finished her sandwich, and grabbed a knife to cut it in half. Then he placed it onto her plate, gave her a handful of chips, and made three more. One for him, and two for …?

"Who're they for?" she asked, playing with a chip, not yet eating.

"Me," he joked.

She laughed a little, and set the chip into her mouth, chewing softly.

"Two friends are coming, should be here in a second or two."

"Oh, cool," she said – not bothering to sound too convincing.

"Don't worry, they're chill," he assured her, and greatly to her surprise, he looked up to her and offered a wide grin. He had laughed and smiled before, of course, but never had she seen a friendly, open smile like this one. It was friendly, and well, it was kind of welcoming. Awkwardly, she grabbed another chip, and smiled back.

_Mad at the fact your dad is an addict; your friend takes pills - he thinks it cures sadness._

_I'm not here to attack or make you kids panic, but I just think it's tragic the way these kids have it._

_And everybody sins and it all begins, it goes back around, nobody ever wins._

_And you stab yourself in the back, everybody just relax!_

Tenten and Neji were sitting on his large bed, back against the wall, facing his door. The large room was in front of their eyes, with a computer (that had the two sandwiches on it) to the left, and a TV with a few gaming consoles to the right. She had one hand over her mouth, laughing, with the other holding onto her sandwich, when someone opened Neji's door.

He was tall, about seventeen, more lean then Neji - but still muscular - and had long black hair. He wore a SKSK shirt, and just as Tenten was trying to figure out why he looked so familiar, the second person came through the door.

"Yo," the older one said, heading straight for the computer. She knew the other kid. It was Sasuke, in a black LoveHateHero shirt and black shorts, and he was holding gym sneakers as well as his regular torn up skating shoes.

"Itachi, Sasuke – this is Tenten," Neji introduced.

"Sup?" Itachi said, turning to her.

"Uhm, Ham and Cheese," she answered. Itachi was looking at her like she was a watermelon at a Wal-Mart, one you'd inspect before buying. She looked away, blushing faintly, and turned her gaze to Sasuke. He turned his head away from her before she got a chance to catch his eye.

"Do you have my corduroys?" Sasuke suddenly asked, dropping all his shoes. He had on one gray sock, and a different blue one. Wait...She was checking out his socks, and he hadn't even acknowledged her presence. She never felt so inferior before.

"Yeah. They're still in the hamper," Neji answered, and turned back to Tenten. "Tennie, do you know Sasuke? He's a sophomore, too."

Sasuke was digging through the hamper, until he pulled out red pants. She watched him the whole time, and knew that he must have been able to feel her eyes on him. "Yeah, but we don't have classes together, just lunch," she replied. She wondered if he'd say anything – he didn't. In fact, he announced that he was getting a shower, and left the room. Not once had he spoken or looked at her. She felt a little sick, embarrassed almost.

"He's a grouchy one, eh?" Itachi said, taking his sandwich.

"I don't really know him that well," Tenten answered, wanting to defend him, but having nothing to say.

"How'd you meet?" Itachi asked, nonchalantly.

"My best friend started hanging out with Naruto. We met at the mall last weekend."

Itachi nodded, and looked back at the computer. Tenten folded her legs together, and took the last bite of her sandwich, while her thoughts centered on Sasuke, and the difference between him online last night, to now. Maybe she missed something at lunch, when she stayed in Art to work on her piece?

Neji finished his sandwich, and placed the plate down in front of him. His hand brushed onto her thigh, too slowly to be accidental. She didn't flinch, but she did shift slightly, to where she was facing more towards Itachi.

"You go to Wildehyde?" she asked. He turned to her, and then leant back in his chair, arms casually resting behind his head.

"Yeah," he said.

"What're you majoring in?"

"Nothing – ROTC."

"Oh, planning to enlist?" she asked.

"Nah," he answered. It looked like he was going to go on – she saw it in his eyes, like there was more to tell, that he just didn't plan on sharing. She saw it frequently on Sasuke. But, then he asked his own question.

"You have a major?"

"Art," she replied.

"Specialty?"

"Sculpture."

"You work good with your hands?" Itachi joked, staring at her; a hard look in his eye, his face calm, his lips curved ever so slightly.

"Yeah," she answered after a few seconds, with a thin, forced smile.

He smirked – she noticed it was incredibly familiar, and denied herself a frown. He turned back to the computer, and she repositioned herself to facing forward again.

Neji chose to play Guitar Hero, while Itachi stayed online, and Sasuke showered. Tenten laid down, flat on her stomach, watching Neji play. Whether it was the first, second or third one, or even if he was playing on Easy, Medium, Hard (or Expert?) she didn't know. After a few minutes, Sasuke walked back in the room, wearing the red skinny pants, and that was all – save for blue plaid boxers she could see the edge of. He was shirtless, sockless, and his hair was ruffled up but still wet.

He went over to one of Neji's drawers, opening it up, revealing a mess of t-shirts.

"Take the Saosin one," Neji directed, watching Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

Tenten saw how he grabbed a white/black Circa Survive one, instead – and smiled lightly. He shrugged it over his head, and then unrolled it down. She watched his eyes studiously, but not with the intent she had had last time. Now she wasn't trying to get his attention. She was just watching those piercing, dark orbs. A few seconds later, he inevitably looked up, locking gazes with her. All in his eyes, all in two seconds, she saw what looked like anger, confusion, and then understanding. He looked away from her, and joined Neji in Guitar Hero. Two player wasn't anymore exciting, and she felt herself drift into a light sleep.

_It all just hits so close to home, we all got friends but we stand alone._

_And your on your own from a broken home, you keep the truth inside and it stays unknown._

_Nostalgia hit and its time to quit, and everybody acts like it don't mean shit._

_And your friend will stab you just to fuck some girl, put your hands in the air and scream 'fuck the world!'_

Or light she thought. She awoke, facing a cranberry-colored wall, with foggy vision and confusion. She turned her head to the left, as she was still on her stomach with her hands tucked near her neck, and she saw something red and pointy. Still mentally clouded, she placed her left onto it, using it as support to drag her torso up, enough to fold her legs back in. Once she was sitting, on her knees, she looked down – and saw that the red and pointy object happened to be Sasuke's knee. He was sitting pretzel style, on the corner of the bed, to the side of where her head was just laying. She realized this, and snapped out of her sleepy state. Mostly, anyhow.

"Sorry," she muttered, releasing her hand, and using it as one of the two that rubbed her eyes open, letting them be capable of seeing well enough again.

"It's fine," he said back, vacantly.

She got lost in her thoughts for a little while; pointless little ones. Like, the one reminding her that her hair was probably disastrous. She brought her hands to her head, and could immediately tell that it was. She took out the two buns, and ran her fingers through the mid-back lengthy hair. Then, she threw it up into a messy pony tail, noticing the long curls that were coming from it.

She watched him play a song or two, sitting next to him in the same upright position, hands fiddling in her lap, until he came to a point where he was scrolling through songs. Then, he stopped and spoke.

"Why are you here?"

"I don't know. I babysit Hanabi, Neji just invited me over this morning."

"You've never hung with him before?"

"Nope. Why?" He didn't answer. She chose a different question. "Where are they?"

"McDonalds. They left right before you woke up," he answered.

"Oh. What time is it?" she wondered, but pulled out her own phone. 8:56pm.

"Oh snap," she mumbled.

He smirked, and then started another song.

"Do you want to leave?" she asked suddenly, when he finished it. Immediately, she looked down awkwardly – not that he had turned towards her.

"To?" he said – all though, it barely sounded like a question. Tenten took a silent, deep breath. She felt like she was entering unchartered waters, and even though she knew not why, she wanted to be careful.

"Anywhere. Subway?"

He noted that she didn't say McDonalds.

"Alright. Do me a favor?" he asked, getting up, and turning the Tv off.

"Yeah," she said automatically.

"Call Naruto," he said, flipping Tenten his phone from his pocket.

"Okay. Tell him…?"

""To meet us there," he said simply.

She looked down at the phone, and found her way to the contacts, where she scrolled to the N's. As she found Naruto, and pressed 'Talk', she noticed Sasuke had left the room.

"Hey," Naruto answered, on the second ring.

"Hey Naruto, its –"

"Tenten! Why do you have Sasuke's phone?" he cut her off.

"Oh. Cause he gave it to me,"

"Why?" he sounded so confused, her stomach nearly twisted.

"To call you and tell you to meet us at Subway. The one near Neji's house."

"You know Neji?"

"Yes,"

"How well?" Naruto asked, with a sharp tone.

"N-not very," she replied slowly, confused.

There was a long, too-quiet silence. Tenten couldn't bring herself to say anything though, and she didn't know why. Finally, he said something in a way she had never heard him say anything before.

"He's not a safe person, Tenten."

"What do you mean?" she responded.

"He's reckless, an addict, and a dealer. He's the worst influence." She practically froze.

"…Itachi?" she said weakly.

"I lied – _he's_ the worst. He isn't reckless."

_This love; this hate,_

_Is burning me away._

_It's hard to face that we're all the same._

Tenten swallowed, and let out a breath. People who did drugs, honestly, never bothered her. Kids who had sex didn't either – she was too used to hearing about it, to consider it a big deal anymore. But this made her stomach leap around frantically.

"I didn't know," was all she could manage to say.

"Don't worry – you couldn't have. Its fine. I'll be at subway in ten minutes, okay?"

"Okay," she said, not really hearing him.

"Bye!" he said. She only closed the phone.

_This love; this hate,_

_Is burning me away._

_It's harder times like these that never change_

She stared at the phone, holding it into her hands, sitting on the edge of the bed, feeling disgusted. The fact that Neji and Itachi did/dealed drugs was only part of what was fazing her. Mostly, it was the feeling of understanding that washed over her.

_Let go!_

_I'll bring you closer!_

_Right now!_

_I'll hold on tightly!_

The understanding of why Sasuke wouldn't look at her when he came into the room – because he thought she was friends with Neji, and was there for drugs. Her stomach wrenched, as she held the phone tighter in her hands, knuckles almost white.

_Let go!_

_We're going no where!_

_Somewhere!_

_And things aren't over!_

Then he came back into the room, and leaned against the door way. He looked at her, patiently and steadily.

_Harder times like these!_

_Growing up on the streets!_

"I'm straightedge," she finally said. Her voice was off, but she wasn't lying.

"I know." He meant it.

"Oh." She didn't know relief could feel so good.

_Harder times like these!_

_I'll put you back on your feet!_

He nodded, barely. His eyes were still on her. It was like he was waiting for more.

"You wanted me to call him…because you knew he'd tell me," she realized.

"Yeah," was all he said.

"Well, he's going to be there in ten minutes," she told him, sounding tired.

"Okay." He picked up her shoes, and walked them over to her. She didn't say thanks, but instead asked, "How'd you know? That I didn't do..?"

"When I walked in the room. There was a look in your eye."

"What was it?"

"Boredom. And, no attraction to Neji," he added in afterthought.

_This love; this hate,_

_Is burning me away._

_It's hard to face that we're all the same._

She half-smiled, something Sasuke began to notice as her signature. But then she looked serious, troubled.

"You didn't even look at me when you walked in," she pointed out.

"I was surprised," he shrugged, slipping on his own shoes.

"So was I," she mumbled.

"Do you want a jacket?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Is it cold?"

"The wind is."

"I guess," she concluded.

_This love; this hate,_

_Is burning me away._

_It's harder times like these that never change._

He went into the large closet, and pulled out a red/black checkered and flannel looking zip-up hoodie. He handed it to her, and went back to find a black-dark gray striped one for himself. When he turned back around, he found her sniffing the jacket wearily.

She looked up, noticing the look he was giving her. She forced a small smile, and laughed a little.

"Just seeing if it smelt like weed. Or cocaine. If cocaine smells."

He smirked a little, but then it turned into a smile – an actual, real, white-toothed smile. Her own smile brightened, and another feeling erupted into her stomach. Butterflies.

_And I fall to the ground with my teardrops,_

_And I get lost every time my heart stops._

_This love; this hate, is burning me away._

* * *

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	6. Quarters

A**.**Pace**.**Too**.**Fast**.**

**-**;_six _**quarters**

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Standard Disclaimer Applied

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**notes: **yeah, hey guys, this chapter sucks. just a little warning. please bear with it? it gets better, i promise _that_ at least.

* * *

No longer then twenty minutes had passed, before Naruto arrived at Subway with a large grin on his face. He had spent the whole afternoon sleeping, and was now wide awake (and bound to be up all night). When he entered the somewhat fast food restaurant, he immediately spotted Sasuke and Tenten at the corner table to his left.

They were playing Quarters, sitting opposite each other. Tenten's left knuckle on her ring finger was bleeding.

Naruto laughed – "I want in," he announced himself by saying.

"Okay, play winner," Tenten agreed, and offered a smile as a hello, watching him take a seat down.

Tenten span the quarter, and it twirled on the table with good speed. Lightly and carefully, Sasuke tapped the coin – it kept spinning. Quickly, Tenten followed the same movement, and then Sasuke went again. The quarter was slowing down, so Tenten acted swiftly, lightly touching it one last time. It continued to spin faintly, ready to fall, when Sasuke barely touched it. It slowed to a stop – Sasuke lost the round.

She grinned a little, as she pulled the quarter over to her side of the table. He put his hand down, fingers folded and knuckles facing her. She placed her pointer and middle finger down, and pulled her the thumb with the coin back. Then, after a second of looking at Sasuke's apathetic but blithe face, she propelled the quarter toward his knuckles – it hit hard and square on his index finger.

The coin stopped dead under his fingers, but as soon as it did, he gingerly lifted his hand and flexed out his fingers. It was obvious that skin had broken, but was he bleeding? Daintily, she reached for his hand, and held onto it as she examined his finger. No blood. With her eyes narrowed, she looked up at him. His lips twitched, and his eyes gloated. She dropped his hand. He took the quarter, and span.

Predictably, Tenten was the last one to touch it before it fell to a stop. She pushed the quarter towards him, and placed down the hand that had just stopped bleeding. He took the coin between his fingers, and rapidly flicked it – it smashed right into the same spot as last time. Barely wincing, she pushed her fingers out so they were flattened onto the table. Blood.

"Goddamn," she muttered, watching the red liquid trickle from and off her finger. She looked up, and saw that Naruto was watching her finger, but Sasuke's eyes were on her.

'I Win' his eyes were saying.

"I'll kick your ass at Uno," she promised, taking her hand, and sucking the blood from her knuckle.

"You think so?"

"Yes."

He smirked, and gave the quarter to Naruto. She watched them play, absentmindedly cradling the finger in her hand. Naruto was too rough and his tips on the coin caused it to fall. In two touches, Sasuke had won.

"I'm getting hungry," Naruto complained, hopping off of the seat, and heading over to order. Sasuke and Tenten shared a brief look, before getting down themselves and following him.

"I don't have money," she mentioned awkwardly.

"Naruto's paying," Sasuke replied easily.

"Oh?" Her voice held the question.

"I paid last week," he said simply. Naruto looked over to her, overhearing the conversation.

"Whoever has the money, pays," he told her.

"Oh, right. Uh. Also," Tenten started, looking up at the large menu. "I don't know what to order."

"Been here before?" Sasuke asked, briskly.

"Not really."

"Like chicken?"

"Yeah."

He faintly nodded, before ordering a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub. And, then another one. Using the money Naruto handed him, he paid, collected the two sandwiches, and handed one to her.

"Let's eat outside," Naruto suggested, and so they did.

There were a few yellow tables that had one end attached to the outside walls of the Subway, and Naruto picked on and took a seat. Sasuke and Tenten followed right behind. The three chattered idly, conversation mostly guided by Naruto. Naruto was a fast eater, practically gobbling up his food, so he was first done – He got up to throw his trash out, when someone called his name.

"Naruto." Tenten recognized it immediately, and turned to look at him.

"Hey Itachi. Yo Neji," he greeted.

They both nodded, but then Itachi threw a double cheeseburger at him. Easily, Naruto caught it.

"Pickles?" he asked.

He wasn't unfamiliar to all the times Itachi forgot to order it without pickles, refused to eat it even if someone took them off, and then gave it away. Shrugging, he took the yellow wrapping off of it, and took a bite. Meanwhile, Tenten looked over to Sasuke with somewhat of a smile, remembering the conversation at the mall. That's when it hit her.

"_You guys close?"_

"_Yeah."_

Her facial expression changed to one of concern, as she shot him a questioning look. Sasuke was staring back at her, watching her eyes carefully. It was like he could read her mind, but couldn't or didn't know how to answer. Impulsively, Tenten offered a timid smile, pushing back her questions and doubts. He looked at her for another second, before smirking slightly, and walking over to her.

"When do you have to be home?" he asked, quietly.

"Uh, around ten, I guess."

"How about now?"

"Yeah," she replied.

He looked away from her, and turned to Naruto.

"Be back in a half hour."

Without another word, he turned the opposite way and started walking. Tenten glanced at the others, and felt a small chill as she realized Itachi had been watching them the whole time. She mumbled a 'see yah', and jogged to catch up with him.

The walk back to Neji's house was silent except for when he asked where she lived, and the wind blowing was chilly. She zipped up the hoodie, and folded her arms around to get warmer. Ten minutes later they were across in Neji's driveway, and he was heading inside to get car keys. Her mind was a mess, thinking about earlier, and trying to connect things. When he came back out, they still didn't talk, even as she climbed into Itachi's car knowing he didn't have his license. Then again, she trusted him, whether she should or shouldn't, and didn't think they'd end up in a wreck.

"To answer your question from earlier, yeah." He said suddenly, as they started pulling out of the driveway. She never asked him a question, but she knew what he was talking about. If Itachi and he were close, and Itachi was "the worst influence", then what had Sasuke done? She was thinking of the drugs and the alcohol when she had looked at him earlier. And now he was saying 'yeah'.

"Snorting, smoking, drinking. Stopped a few months ago."

Talk about a punch to the gut. But the fact that she even cared was what was unsettling her the most. She hardly knew him, for heaven sake. It didn't matter though. Picturing him doing any of that stuff was making her feel weak.

"Oh."

There was a moment where he didn't say anything else, so she figured she had to.

"Not anymore?"

"No."

She paused, not knowing what he expected her to do next.

"Well, that's good," she managed. He looked over to her, skeptically almost. She couldn't help but laugh a little.

"What! What else am I supposed to say?" she defended. He smirked, and put his eyes back on the road.

"I don't know; something a little more original then 'well, that's good'".

"Right. And when I tell you that I had sex with a random kid in my chemistry class, and that I thought I might be pregnant, but thankfully wasn't, what would _you_ have said?"

"I'd ask if it was Shino Aburame or not."

"Sasuke!" she gasped, eyes wide with practical disbelief as she stared at him.

His lips were twitching upwards, and she could see the smile that he almost forfeited, but his eyes stayed forward and he shrugged imperturbably.

"That is so _skeevy_. Ew, I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight," she mumbled, horrible mental images flashing through her mind. Sasuke seemed to think about it, before coming up with his own disgusted face.

"Me neither," he mumbled. She shot him a glare.

"You're the one who said it."

" Yeah, but you started it."

"That's mature," she replied sarcastically. He smirked.

"Oh! I left my bag in Neji's room," she recalled.

"Do you need it tonight?" he asked.

"No, but for school tomorrow."

"I'll bring it to you. What do you have first period?"

"English."

"Alright."

They were reaching the area where she lived, so she started guiding him around, until she finally pointed to a small two-story green house, heavily gardened with slightly overgrown grass.

"Sorry about tonight," she said, as they pulled into the driveway.

"Me too," he replied, almost too quiet for her to hear. She nodded briefly.

"See you tomorrow."

"See yah."

Tenten removed the jacket, left it to him on the seat, and then got out of the car. She heard him pull away, but didn't look back as she made her way to the front door. If she couldn't sleep tonight, it wouldn't be because of the remotely pleasant but somewhat awkward conversation with Sasuke. Because, that was actually fairly nice.

* * *

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	7. Blue Hair Dye

A**.**Pace**.**Too**.**Fast**.**

-;_seven_ **blue hair dye**

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Standard Disclaimer Applied

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* * *

**notes: **the lyrics used in this chapter are for the song Built For Sin by Framing Hanley, and I don't own them.

* * *

School started at seven-fifteen, but Tenten always got there at six forty-five. It was plenty of time to get to her locker, figure out what she would and wouldn't need, make sure she did her homework or studied for everything, socialize to a few random people, and get to class. This morning was only a little different. It looked like a typical Friday – basketball game tonight, so school colors were everywhere. She figured by senior year she was going to be scarred for life next time she saw blue and orange together, but for now it was fine. The only difference was that she came to school without a bag, and when she got to her locker she had nothing to sort though. She grabbed a fresh pencil, anxiously skedaddled past friends and other kids, and made her way to English (room 265).

Mr. Asuma wasn't there yet, but the door was unlocked and the lights were on. He was her favorite teacher, and she was pretty sure that he liked her just as much – their style of writing was the same, and she was fairly talented. They got a long well. So, it wasn't abnormal when she took a seat at his desk, and closed her eyes.

"Long night studying for the test I'm giving today?" She heard the voice and her eyes opened. She smiled, and got out of the seat.

"No, I didn't study at all actually," she told Mr. Asuma as she went around to the front of the desk, while he took the seat she had just been in.

"And why not?"

"No one studies for your Friday tests. Half of the questions are the review questions, only reworded, and the rest are simple ones that anyone would know, even if they didn't pay attention in class."

He groaned. "Don't tell me this stuff."

"It's alright. If it makes you feel better, we re always complaining about Tuesday tests. Everyone knows those are the hardest," she reassured him.

"Much better to know."

Ino came in the room then, along with a few other followers. Tenten watched them laugh and giggle about something, and instinctively rolled her eyes. Even worse then posers, were tools. Especially female ones with blonde leaders.

"Ino's a very talented writer," Mr. Asuma reminded her.

"I know, that's the only reason I haven't bitched her out."

"Tenten."

"Yeah, sorry. But seriously, she's so plastic; I don't know how she isn't sick of herself."

"Who did you get paired up with for Kakashi's project? You could do well with experience with a different type of person."

"Naruto – he's not bad, I just met him the other week."

"Give him a little while longer, he'll have you pulling out your hair," Mr. Asuma mumbled.

Tenten laughed, but before she got the chance to say anything else, she heard Ino whisper something fairly loudly; "Who is _that_?"

She turned around, and saw Sasuke standing at the classroom door, looking bored and staring at the girls on the other side of the room. Tenten looked over at them, rolled her eyes again, and went over to him. He had on a light blue Sky Eats Airplane shirt, with tight black corduroy pants.

"I'm offended that she doesn't know," he said to Tenten, not sounding like he really was at all. She shrugged, feigning an apologetic attitude.

"Guess the rep doesn't travel to color yellow."

"Shame."

She smiled, and he handed her the bag.

"Thanks," she said, sliding it up on her shoulder.

"No problem."

"The flowers weren't too bad?" she teased. Her bag was all brown, but the top was a fold over of the inside, and that was with tiny blue flowers mixed with white dots.

"Don't forget the rep," he said. She understood that – anyone who knew who Sasuke was probably wouldn't be making fun of him.

"Were the yellow's laughing?"

He stared at her for a second, before shaking his head in his own disbelief for answering.

"Pretty much."

She laughed, attempting not to though, biting her lip slightly.

"Sorry," she apologized, the smile still gracing her face.

"It's fine," he brushed off, sounding almost amused.

"Does Sakura still eat lunch with you guys?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well, I should be there today. Hopefully I'll finish the piece before lunch, and won't have to skip."

"The demon baby?" he asked.

She gave him a look. "Yeah. The demon baby."

When they were talking online, they had discussed her project – she told him about what she was sculpting, which was a large block that she started working with, totally abstract with no specific intentions of what it should look like. Based off of her descriptions of it so far, he came up with the nickname.

Sasuke smirked. "When do I get to see it?"

"Oh, well it will be in the Art Show next week."

He only lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that did sound incredibly geeky, didn't it?" she joked.

"A little," he admitted.

"Yeah. But I love them – seeing everything is really fun, and I've got friends from other schools that meet there. Plus, the food is actually really good. They get Five Guys to cater."

"The burger place," Sasuke recognized.

"Yep."

"Naruto would go," he said.

"Would you?"

"Would I get to vote?"

"Mm-hm."

"Yeah. I'd go. Demon-baby needs at least one person to support him."

Her jaw dropped slightly, before she closed it and narrowed her eyes at him. "He'll get plenty of votes," she defended.

"Then I guess I'll skip it," he shrugged.

"But…every vote counts," she added slowly.

He did one of his half-snickering noises, as the five-minute-till bell rang.

"See you at lunch," he said after glancing at the clock.

"Hopefully."

Then he turned around, and left. She watched him for a few seconds, before readjusting the bag on her shoulder and heading for her seat. As she placed the bag onto the ground, she noticed Ino staring at her. She looked up.

"I don't always find emo kids attractive, but he was hot. You've got good taste," the blonde said, her voice honest. Tenten blinked – was this a compliment?

"He isn't emo," she answered blankly.

"Punk. Hardcore. Scene. Whatever you want to call it, it's all the same," she dismissed it naively.

"Right."

"Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, tucking an almost-white piece of hair behind her ear.

"Nope."

"Going to be?"

Tenten paused, raising her eyebrow at the girl skeptically, and then shook her head no.

Ino smiled, and shrugged – "We'll see, eh?" Then she turned back to her friends, who looked with disapproval, and seemingly forgot about the previous girl. Tenten turned away, kind of confused, and just took a seat before going into a thinking-mood.

**-?-**

"Ms. Anka took my phone away," Sakura told Naruto the second she sat down at the lunch table, her voice sounding apologetic. Of course it was – she had been texting him, and all of a sudden had stopped.

"She took it away?! That sucks," he replied, pushing over a Snapple that he already bought for her.

"Oh, thanks… and yeah, it does. My mom'll have to come and pick it up if I want it back. She's going to kill me. And then take away my unlimited texting," she said, her voice showing the dread she felt for it all.

Naruto made a face, showing that he understood, just as Sasuke sat down next to Sakura. He looked across at Naruto for a second, before talking.

"Go buy me a pretzel."

"What? What makes you think that I'll-"

"Get yourself cookies," Sasuke cut him off, handing him three dollars.

" Okay, be right back."

Sasuke blinked, while Sakura smiled and watched him go. Shikamaru had been texting the whole time, and more than likely had no clue what was going on around him.

"Who does he text all the time?" Sakura asked, opening up her Snapple.

"Ino – some mysterious girlfriend that probably doesn't exist."

"Ino? Yamanka?"

Hearing the name made Shikamaru look up.

"What about her?" he asked, showing interest in the conversation now.

"I've gotten paired up with her for Kakashi's project."

"I know, she told me. She's interested in your hair color."

"Oh, of course… what's she like?" Sakura wanted to know.

Sasuke wasn't listening; he never really did when Shikamaru got started on this Ino girl. Instead he was looking around, which is how he spotted Tenten heading for them, her Anatomy book open and a furrowed brow.

"Too troublesome to explain. She's just … Ino," Shikamaru shrugged.

Tenten had heard the name, and looked up from her book before sliding into the seat next to Sasuke.

"What about Ino?" she asked.

"You know her?" Shikamaru countered.

"Unfortunately."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow with amusement, and waited for Shikamaru's response.

"She's my girlfriend."

Tenten's eyes widened and she glanced at Sasuke for some indication that it was a joke. When everyone, including Sakura didn't laugh, she straightened up.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. Shikamaru shrugged, clearly not caring.

Then she turned to Sasuke, and looked at him expectantly. When he stared back without saying anything, she spoke.

"She's the girl from this morning. The blonde. You didn't know that?"

He didn't. Sasuke turned to Shikamaru, not having any words to say. Shikamaru smirked, before going back to his cell phone for texting. Naruto returned with food, and threw the items towards Sasuke. The cheese dip landed on Tenten's textbook, and she went to reach for it. At the same time, Sasuke had motioned to take it off. Their hands paused over the cheese, and they glanced at each other.

"Sorry," Tenten mumbled, smiling awkwardly as she withdrew her hand. He lifted a shoulder as if shrugging it off, and took the cheese.

"You already had Anatomy," he pointed out, looking down at her book.

"Yeah, don't remind me," she sighed.

He looked at her for her to go on, as he opened the dip.

"You know how the homework was to read Chapter 16?" she asked, gesturing at what she had opened.

He nodded.

"Well, did you read it?"

"Yeah."

"Did you read the footnotes?"

This caused him to glance towards the book, and he tilted his head closer to it. She realized she could smell his shampoo – brown sugar, or something.

"Yep," he replied, after flipping a few pages to find them. He leaned back over to his spot, and peeled a piece off of his cinnamon pretzel.

"Well, I didn't - they're all the questions on the pop quiz."

"Are you failing that class?" he wondered, taking a bite.

"No! I've got like, an eighty-five or something… what do you have?"

"Ninety-four."

"You're the ninety-four!?" she exclaimed. The teacher always kept the highest and lowest grade out of all of her students posted on the front of her desk. She would never tell who it was though, but usually someone would admit if it was them or not. However, no one had volunteered the information out this time.

"And he's the forty-six," Sasuke replied, looking over to Shikamaru.

"I thought you said he was smart …"

"He is. But he's lazy."

"Oh," she laughed.

"Finish Demon-baby?" he asked then, still studiously attending to his food.

"No, but I'm staying after so I can later."

"The dobe and I are."

"Staying afterschool?"

"Yeah. Every Friday."

"Maybe I'll see you guys later then," she proposed.

"Probably," he figured.

The group continued eating, talking, and so forth until the bell had rung for them to get going. Like usual, Naruto and Sakura had continued chatting away as they exited. This time, Sasuke and Tenten were doing the same – up until the moment that they reached the stairs. Like last time, he went up them, and she kept walking. The rest of the day went too slowly for her.

**-?-**

_  
You can scream out loud  
But your panic falls on deaf ears  
This is where you've brought yourself  
And this is what you've always feared  
There's a faceless crowd, with no sympathy  
So you can scream out loud  
But there's no one listening_

Tenten was caught up in her work. She had finished her sculpture in twenty minutes, but she felt the surge of artistic inspiration now that she had finally finished her piece, so she put up the large white paper on the canvas, and was using black pencils to sketch. Her iPod's headphones were plugged in, the volume loud enough to be heard by other people, and softly sung along as she continued to outline the side of the room she was choosing to draw.

When she felt a tap on her shoulder, she literally jolted in surprise, as her pencil clattered to the ground. She yanked the headphones out, as she turned around. She saw Sasuke a few feet away ooking at her sketch, and Naruto, who was bent over in front of her picking up the pencil.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," the blonde apologized sheepishly, handing her the point-broken pencil.

"Surprise," she corrected.

"Huh?"

"There's a difference between scare and surprise… Uh, never mind. It's fine," she told him easily, putting the pencil down, and taking out the bobby pins she had used to pin her bangs back, as well as the rubber band that had kept it up in its messy bun. As she ran her fingers through her hair as a make-shift comb, she asked them what they'd done so far.

"We went and talked to Kakashi about the project. Did you know we got paired up together!?"

"Yeah, I did," she laughed.

"It's going to be fun. Except, he got paired up with that Sai kid," Naruto said, gesturing towards Sasuke.

"The emo kid?"

Now, Sai really was emo – all black clothing, eyeliner, that girly hair cut, and the record of never smiling or laughing in public. If he cut, he didn't let the marks show on his wrists. Since everyone assumed they were there, hiding them would have been pointless. Personally though, Tenten didn't think he cut – she couldn't picture him being sad, exactly. He was just… not happy.

"Yeah. Pretty ironic, isn't it?" Naruto joked.

"I'm not emo," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"Well you aren't exactly butter and toast, either."

"Butter and toast?" Tenten repeated, lips twitching into a smile as she glanced at a peeved Sasuke.

"They seem like happy creatures," Naruto declared.

"Yeah. I suppose they do," she agreed. Man, was this kid strange – but, hilarious still yet.

"We're heading to my house; do you want to come over?" Naruto asked her.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, sure. For how long?"

"All night? Doesn't really matter, however long you want. But we're getting picked up in five minutes, you ready?"

"Yeah, I just have to put this in the back room," she said, directing her gaze to the canvas.

"Okay," he grinned.

**-?-**

Text fr Sakura

At 2: 31pm

--

Hey, I just got my phone back. I know you're sculpting right now, and will get this later, but my mom grounded me. So, no phone after this text, no computer, and no hanging out. For four weeks. Kill me please? Ekh, don't text back, I'll call you from the house phone later tonight.

--

It was three o'clock when Tenten saw the text, and she sighed as she read it. She was in the car with Naruto, Sasuke, and Jiraiya. From what she heard from Sakura, the man was Naruto's adopted father. He had a large amount of hair, reminding Tenten of an elderly Native-American. He seemed nice enough, as well as strange.

She exited out of the text, and scrolled through her contacts until she came to the M's. _Mom._ She pressed Talk, and then waited until the other line picked up.

"Hey. Yeah, but I don't need a ride. I'll be home later. Okay. Bye." She finished the brief conversation, and closed her phone. She put it in her pocket, and avoided the look Sasuke was sending her. Whenever people looked at her like that, she was reminded of how unconcerned her mother was. She'd rather not think about that.

**-?-**

Ino never went out on Friday nights, unless it was to see Shikamaru. Like, the mall last week. But, tonight she wasn't allowed to go and see him. So she got home, did all of her homework for the weekend, got a shower, changed into pajamas, and called him. It was only five o'clock, and she figured he'd be awake now.

"Hey baby."

"Hey Shika, what're you doing?"

"Just woke up."

"Of course," she smiled.

For the next six hours, they talked. No one else understood their relationship – they only had one class together, didn't see each other at lunch, weren't allowed to hang out much, etc. It didn't matter though. Ino was very talkative, and had _a lot_ of things to talk about. Shikamaru was more interested in listening then talking, and couldn't help but love the way Ino thought things through, did things, and acted about things. So they'd put on the same movie, and watch it together, even if it wasn't physically together but only over the phone. Ino could recite her whole entire day for him, and he would carefully listen and offer comments. When, or if, he chose to talk, it was usually complaining or about some too-intelligent philosophy she hardly understood. But the way he talked sounded better than any music she'd ever heard.

Her friends disapproved of him – _'Ino, you're beautiful. You could find an amazing guy, and live this romance that none of us will ever get a chance. You're wasting your time on him; he's boring.' _And Ino would laugh it off, not bothering to explain to them that some wild, movie-worthy romance isn't love. What she had with Shikamaru, and his totally-not-boring-ness, was. She didn't need them to understand. All she needed was him.

**-?-**

Hanging out at Naruto's was calm and very relaxing. She was sitting on his bed, watching Sasuke play some Dragon Ball Z game, while Naruto was on the computer, talking to Sakura (who apparently was sneaking on while her mom and dad went out to dinner). It was probably eight o'clock now, and no one looked as if they were expecting her to leave yet, so she didn't plan on it.

"Hey Naruto, can I get a drink?" she asked.

"Yeah, there's bottles of water and juice in fridge," he told her.

"'Kay. You guys want something?"

She got off the bed, saw Sasuke shake his head no, and Naruto offered a "nah". Tenten nodded, and headed out of the room. Down the small hallway, was the black/white/red kitchen. She went to the fridge, found a bottle of her favorite juice – Apple, and snatched it happily. She closed the fridge, and as she started heading back, something caught her eye.

It was a box of hair dye, sitting on the counter. When she looked at it closer, she realized the color; blue. Interested, she walked back to Naruto's room.

"Hey Naruto?" She got his attention, walking back into the room, carefully moving behind Sasuke so she didn't cross his view of the TV.

"Yeah?" he asked, swiveling around to face her.

"Why do you have blue hair dye?" She took a seat back on the bed, and took another sip from the bottle.

"Oh," he grinned. "I wanted to dye his hair, but he wouldn't let me." She knew he meant Sasuke, so she looked over to him. He paused the game, and turned to face both of them.

"Would you let _him_ touch your hair?" he said, more then asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" she replied, smiling carelessly.

"Really?" he said dully.

"Yeah, it'd be fun. Not the whole head, but like, streaks or something."

"Then let's do it!" Naruto exclaimed, typing something on the computer before putting an away message up, and getting out of his seat. He said nothing more, as he left the room, presumably to go get the dye.

Sasuke was looking at her, probably thinking she was crazy.

"Look, you don't want Naruto touch your hair? Then I'll do it. I do my brother's all the time."

He stayed silent for a few more seconds, before shrugging and mumbling something – 'Hn'? She wasn't sure.

Naruto came back into the room, holding a handful of latex gloves, and the dye.

"To the bathroom?" he proposed.

Tenten put down her drink, before walking over to him.

"Come on you fag, you're doing this," Naruto said to Sasuke, and some more enthusiastic then others, they left the room and went to the bathroom.

"Hand me the box Naruto, so I can see the instructions." He complied, giving Tenten the box. She took a seat on the closed toilet seat, and opened the box up. Naruto hovered over her, but Sasuke went to the tub and took a seat on the edge, idly staring at the ceiling.

"Okay…" she mumbled, reading over the directions quickly. Then they went to work – Tenten put the dye together, the two put the blue gloves on, Naruto covered her bangs and random pieces with the dye, which used about half of the bottle since her hair was so long. She had to keep it on for twenty-five minutes, but instead of sitting and doing nothing, she began to work on Sasuke's hair. She put it in random spots, doing a blend-in trick her brother had done with bleach-white for his blonde hair. Naruto had left to go and continue talking to Sakura online, but the other two sat in the bathroom talking.

Before they knew it, Naruto came in to tell them that Tenten's hair time was up. Then he left without another word, and she was left shaking her head at his short attention span.

"What's next?" Sasuke asked.

"We have to wash it out," she replied easily. She got off the seat, and glanced up towards the shower. Sasuke got up, so she was able to push the curtain all the way over, getting it out of the way. Checking to see the showerhead, she realized it was one that could be unattached, which would make things a lot easier. Slowly, she turned to Sasuke.

"Uhm. Care to help?" she asked.

"How?"

She reached up to grab the showerhead, and then brought it down.

"To wash this gunk out of my hair," she replied hesitantly, feeling awkward.

"Hn," was all he said, as he took the showerhead from her.

Tenten nodded and turned away from him, reaching down to turn the water on. Once it was warm enough, she shifted it to come out from the showerhead, and then went down on her knees before the tub. She looked back to Sasuke, and he nodded, as he took a step closer to her. Tenten turned back around, and carefully flipped her hair over, closing her eyes as she was face down in the tub. Sasuke brought the running water over to her head, and immediately blue started to drain out of her hair. After realizing just holding the water on her head wasn't going to do anything efficiently enough, he reached down and started lifting pieces up, systematically rinsing the many strands. The hard part was to get to her bangs though, so after a moment or two of doing the long pieces of her hair, he took off his socks, and stepped into the left side of the tub. He used his free hand to tilt her head towards him, and she followed that direction, still with her eyes tightly closed. With that same hand, he gathered the blue pieces of her side-bangs, and rinsed them until there was no blue left in the water. When the job was finished, he leaned across her and shut the water off, letting the showerhead drop.

She slowly leaned up, propping herself up by putting her hands on the tub's edge, but let her hair stay into the tub, as it dripped relentlessly.

"Towel?" she asked, using the back of her right hand to wipe water away from her mouth. She hadn't heard him say anything, but a few seconds later there was a light touch on her shoulder, and she blinked her eyes open to see a chocolate brown colored towel dangling on the left side of her head.

"Thanks." She took it, and slowly stood up as she wrapped her long hair in it and wiped the rest of the water away from her face.

"I didn't realize it'd be so difficult to breathe with all that water rushing down," she mumbled softly. He smirked lightly, before a soft vibrating sound thrummed in his pocket.

Text fr Naruto Uzumaki

At 8:39pm

--

Time's up for your hair :D

--

He showed Tenten the text, rolling his eyes.

"What a lazy kid," she laughed. And, "Just one minute, that shouldn't affect it too much."

She turned around to face the mirror, where she rubbed the towel against her head sharply, before unraveling it off her head and shaking the hair out slightly. Her navy blue tee shirt had some blue dye on it, and was soaked at the neckline, but she could deal.

"Okay, your turn."

They repeated the process, with Sasuke getting on his knees, and Tenten taking the showerhead for his hair. The only difference was he didn't have long pieces that needed lifting to the water, she actually had to run her fingers through his shorter hair, and gently turn his head left and right to make sure both sides were rinsed out. Of course, it didn't take nearly as long as doing Tenten's hair, and she quickly finished up, shutting off the water and stepping out of the tub, the bottom of her denim straight-legged pants soaked. Next to the sink was another towel, and she grabbed it for Sasuke. Predictably, he didn't wrap his hair up like she had done, but ran it through his hair firmly.

She was looking into the mirror, playing around with the pieces. Her hair was so dark, especially wet, that seeing the blue pieces was a little difficult. Since Naruto didn't have any females living in the house, she assumed there was no hair dryer. She'd have to be patient and wait.

"There's special conditioner stuff, but it isn't really necessary. Unless you want it?" Tenten asked, grabbing a little tube that the dye came with.

"Not really," he answered.

"Didn't think so," she smiled. "But, uh, hold on."

There was a trick she had learned from her brother that helped get the dye off of skin, and Sasuke had an issue with that on the sides of his left ear that could be attended to. She took her towel, rinsed the one small corner of it with warm water, put on a dab of the conditioner and turned to face him.

"This should help with your blue ear," she said, and slowly brought it up towards his ear, rubbing the colored skin meticulously. She was painfully aware that he was staring at her, unblinking and unnaturally still.

When she finished a moment later, she took a step back and avoided his gaze by collecting all of their stuff and trashing it. She knew that if it had been Naruto, she wouldn't feel awkward right now. Even if it had been Shikamaru. But it was Sasuke, and she did feel it, and it was bringing on thoughts she'd much rather suppress.

"Looks the same," Sasuke said dryly, looking into the mirror.

"It's a pretty deep blue; it might hardly show up on your hair. But you'll have to wait till it dries," she reasoned.

"Right." He ruffled his hair a little bit, still looking into the mirror. She watched him through it, biting her lip absentmindedly. When he started taking off his shirt, she turned and faced him.

"What're you doing?"

"It's wet. I'm getting another one," he said, bundling it up in his hand as she reached down and grabbed their socks. "You want one?"

She glanced down at her own shirt, wet and slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah," she admitted.

Sasuke walked past her, and not quite sure what to do, she followed. She noticed they were heading back to Naruto's room, and felt a little more at ease. When they got there, Sasuke threw the wet clothes into a corner, and made his way over to Naruto's dresser. He pulled out two shirts, and threw one over to her.

It was a Vote for Pedro shirt and by the looks of it would be too big. Sasuke was already facing the other way, standing at Naruto's shoulder looking at the computer, so she turned slightly and quickly took her tee off, swiftly slipping on the new one. Her eyes were still on the two boys, who hadn't been concerned at all with whether she had left or stayed in the room, when she threw her shirt over in the cloth pile Sasuke started, and then rolled her wet jeans up to her knees. Then she went over to them, and joined in on whatever YouTube video they were watching. As good as a time she was having, she also felt overworked – she liked to think about things, and would need to get home to do that. Tenten figured that when her hair dried and they were done checking it out, she would call her brother to come and pick her up. At first she thought she'd have so much to tell Sakura … but with a quick glance at Sasuke, she realized she wasn't sure what she would say, or even if she wanted to say it. Not this time.

* * *

**Leave it to me to find bonding via hair dying cute ... hahh. **

**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is appreciated. **


	8. At Spawns

A**.**Pace**.**Too**.**Fast**.**

-;_eight_ **At Spawns**

-

-

Standard Disclaimer Applied

-

* * *

Four weeks. That's how long she was grounded for, and she couldn't get it out of her head.

"I'm never, ever texting again," Sakura mumbled spitefully, putting blame on the phone.

She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was about eleven thirty, and usually she'd have been up and staring the day, but obviously things had changed now. For all it mattered, she could stay right where she was all day, and no one would notice.

A light knock sounded on the door, and her mom called her voice gently. _Okay, never mind. She'__d notice._

"I'm awake," she called back dully.

Sakura didn't bother to look over to her door, but continued staring at the nothingness above her, and let her mom come over to her.

"How'd you sleep?" her mom asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Good."

"That's good. Your father and I are going to the supermarket, we'll be back in two hours or so."

"Alright."

"Look, honey…" her mom started. For this, Sakura raised an eyebrow and actually tilted her head to look at her.

"Your father and I had a long talk last night… we decided that I might have been overreacting. A month is a little overboard. We're not used to having to ground you; I guess I didn't think it through."

Sakura just nodded faintly.

"So, you're only grounded for a week, and I hope you understand it's because we're a little disappointed that you aren't paying attention in school, but talking to some guy instead."

"It's Naruto, mom," Sakura protested softly. She had told her mom enough about him, coming home from school and 'giving the scoop'. Plenty of times she had casually thrown him into conversation, because, well – lately he'd been involved with a lot of the things she did.

"Yes…which brings up the next thing your father and I discussed," her mom said carefully. Immediately Sakura was suspicious, and she straightened up in her seat.

"Yeah?"

"We don't think this boy is … a good influence on you. You're spending all your spare time with him, spending more hours on the computer instead of concentrating on school work, and now texting during the day. You've always been so independent, Sakura, but he's changing you…"

Shocked. Utterly shocked. Sakura could only stare at her mother, thinking of everything of all the things she could have said, but too stunned to say anything.

"So, we think it's best if your time with him is limited. We want to see that you're concentrating on school again."

"I'm ungrounded, but I can't see my friends," Sakura mumbled.

"No, you can still see him, just not as often… and, there's Tenten, just like always."

"Tenten hangs out with him too, in fact she's doing her project with him, she'll be with him more than she's with me," Sakura told her, as if there was any way of getting out of this.

"Honey, if Tenten's allowed to hang out with him, that's her mom's problem. But you know that her family situation is… different."

She stayed quiet, mulling over her own thoughts, carefully picking out all the things wrong with what he mother was doing and saying. And, there was _a lot_.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but we think this is best for a little while… I've got to go now, call if you need anything."

Sakura nodded, restraining herself from speaking her mind, as her mom kissed her cheek and then left the room. She stayed in bed until she heard the car pull out the driveway, but then hastily got up, releasing a frustrated scream. Without another thought she picked up the phone, and called Naruto.

**-?-**

"Some of these questions are really personal," Tenten said, unfazed but a little surprised. It was about three o'clock, and she was back at Naruto's house, this time for schoolwork. The first part of the project was basically just paperwork. Lots of worksheets, and questions, and this-or-that's. Currently she was filling out her own packet, trying to be short and sweet with the extended response ones.

"I didn't write 'em," he shrugged, concentrating on the "Have you ever?" section.

"Yeah, I know. Hatake probably got them from the internet," she mumbled.

"More than likely," Naruto laughed. And, "Are you actually going to go and read all of these?"

"I'm supposed to… I don't know, do you want me to?"

"Really doesn't matter to me. What about you?" he countered.

Tenten looked down at her paper. A few more questions down was "9-1: Family Relationships."

"Uh, don't care," she mumbled back. Not necessarily true, but not necessarily false either.

"I'm not going to have a lot for some of this," he admitted, sounding kind of nervous.

"That's okay," she shrugged – looking up at him, somewhat curiously.

"Yeah. My family tree is kind of, non-existent. Jiraiya's the only person I know, and he's not even blood," he laughed.

She was taken aback. "You don't know anyone else?" she asked, serious even through his amused-and-sarcastic laughter.

"No. I could ask for names, but I never have. When orphans start asking for details, the people tend to get concerned," he joked – but, she knew he was also giving her the straight out truth. She frowned, not sure what to say.

"What about you? Big or small family?" he asked.

"Uh, big I guess."

"Must be nice," he commented, but not with jealousy, or unkindness. Her frown deepened.

"Grass isn't always greener," she said quietly.

He looked up, eyebrow raised, and she nervously met his gaze. "It's not really a big-happy family. Well, I guess it is, but it… isn't."

"Kind of contradicts itself," he pointed out, his tone gently asking for what she meant, but not demanding it. Tenten bit her lip, wondering if she'd lie her way through it this. But she looked up to his eyes, looking naturally caring, backed by a little concern and curiosity.

"I have three older brothers, and a younger sister. We don't _not _get along, and I guess I'm kind of close with my one brother, Udo, but the rest is kind of … messy. My mom works night hours, and my dad travels. I don't really see either of them that much. My dad's parents live in California, and we only see them once a year, if that. But, they don't speak much English anyway. My mom's mom is… well, she's forty six years old. She's my grandma, and she's younger than most people's parents. She's uhm, kind of an alcoholic. Not exactly the cliché grandmother figure, y'know? Her husband is five years younger than her, and he's uh, well, not right in the head I guess," she paused.

"Handicapped?"

"Yeah, you could say that. A few years ago he had a bad fall, and he got some permanent damage."

"How did he fall?" Naruto asked, putting his papers and pen down.

"Uhm, he was drunk. On Sunday mornings he skips beer, and goes straight for the hard liquor. He fell asleep, and I guess when he woke up, he slipped."

"Oh…"

"My grandma had another husband, who my mom calls dad. He's in his fifties, has a wife in her forties; they live in Delaware, we see them on Thanksgiving, and sometimes Easter. We're not really close."

"What about her real dad?" he asked, noticing her choice of words.

"I never met him. She refuses to talk to him, and won't let us see him. The only time she ever mentions him is when she looks down at my hands. She says I have ones like him," Tenten replied, looking down at the mentioned body part. Her fingers were short and slender, and her thumbs curved in slightly.

"There are uncles and aunts and cousins; Pot-head, gambles, divorcee who hasn't seen his daughter in years…" she listed, and then just shrugged.

"Sounds big," Naruto finally said.

She looked up to him, and laughed. "Yeah, just the word I was looking for."

Before they could get back to their work, the front door opened and then quickly slammed. Both of them looked up from their spot at the kitchen counter, just in time to see Sasuke storm off in the direction of Naruto's room.

"I'm guessing he isn't going to say 'hello'," she mumbled, turning back to Naruto.

"No, probably not. He'll go running. He'll be back in a few hours," the blonde replied, shaking his head.

A second later, Sasuke came back out of Naruto's room, and she looked over to him – he had on gym shorts, and was putting on sneakers, the same ones she had noticed him with the other night at Neji's. As soon as they were on and tied, he went back out of the house, this time refraining from slamming the door.

"Is he okay?" she asked, finding herself extremely worried. He looked like he was about to explode.

"No, but he will be."

"You know what's wrong?"

"I can guess… he was just working with Sai, at the library. Uhm, his family is 'big' too."

Tenten stared for a few seconds, a little confused. But then she remembered Itachi, and started to understand. His family-life couldn't have been peaches and cream either.

**-?-**

_**Sasuke Uchiha.**_

**9-1 Family Relationships.**

Father: deceased.

Mother: deceased.

Brother: Itachi, 18, guardian, boring.

Sister: none.

Grandfather: deceased.

Grandmother: in Japan.

Grandfather(2): in Japan.

Grandmother(2): in Japan.

Other family members: not around.

Favorite family member: none.

Favorite family activity: none.

Least favorite family activity: none.

Typical weekday routine: none.

Typical weekend routine: none.

Other: none.

**-?-**

Naruto had been right. When Sasuke came back from running, he was fine. Or, at least like he usually was. He had gotten a shower, changed into an average set of clothes, and then joined them in the kitchen. Tenten and Naruto had been wrapping it up, for the show at Spawns started at seven, which -at this moment- was two hours ago.

Spawns was a billiards house, so the inside of the place was rather large with pool tables, booths, and a small stage. The layout was set up so there was plenty of room in front of the stage for moshers and hardcore dancers – of course, the latter was discouraged by the staff, and they did have the rights to kick you out.

Tenten was sitting on the end of a pool table (which was also discouraged, but didn't concern her for the moment) watching and listening to the two-man group that was on stage. It was one guy playing acoustic guitar while doing main vocals, and then another on drums who occasionally added in background screams. She didn't know their songs, so it was hard to really enjoy, but she did like the sound.

"They're not bad," she yelled to Naruto, leaning over to her reach his ear.

He nodded vigorously. "I like this more than the others," he yelled back.

She nodded, but not in agreement. The set before this had been her favorite, and they weren't all screamo, but mostly. She liked hearing the throat and the pig squeals. For her, it was about the sound, not hearing the lyrics. The next set was Before I Killed It, and as she recalled, they were Sasuke's favorite. Right now he was standing on the other side of Naruto, looking kind of bored. When a few minutes later he left to go outside, it didn't surprise her.

She and Naruto stayed to listen to the rest of this set – she found out the band's name was The Perfect Spring, and made a mental note to look for their online page later. For now, her and Naruto hopped off of the table, and headed outside too. On their hands were wrist bands, the kind they give you at theme parks for unlimited ride access. The bands were two dollars more than the permanent five dollar price, but it would give them reentry, which was pretty important. While the next band set up, it was nice to get outside for fresh air.

"I'm going to go to Seven Eleven for a Full Throttle, you want something?" Naruto asked her, as soon as they stepped outside and were able to talk with a normal-leveled voice.

"Yeah, cherry flavored AMP if they have it." She dug into her pocket for three dollars. He nodded, took the money, and mouthed a goodbye before jetting off.

Tenten looked around, looking for anyone she knew – or, Sasuke. She saw him sitting on the curb at the other end of the parking lot, and decided on heading over there. When she was just a few feet away from him, he looked up.

"Hey," she said, taking a seat next to him, making sure there was a fair enough distance between.

"The hair's nice," he said out of nowhere.

"Mine?"

"In general. If I see pink, I know its Sakura. If I see blue, I know it's you," he shrugged.

She laughed, and nodded. "I guess that's useful."

"Sasuke!?"

Someone called his name, sounding delighted, and both of them looked up. It was a girl, a pretty one. She had long black hair and green eyes – not as bright as Sakura's, but still interesting. Wearing tight black jeans and a pink Kirra cami-top that Tenten had seen the other day in Pacsun, the girl looked like just another person that Tenten might not have ever noticed.

"Ami," he replied after a few seconds.

She smiled widely, and jogged the rest of the way over to him. Without hesitation, she reached down in front of him, grabbed his hands, and pulled him up. As soon as he was standing, she enveloped him in a hug. Tenten stared, surprised at her audacity.

"I haven't seen you in so long, how are you?" she asked, pulling away from him, the smile still on her face.

"Good," he answered. "You?"

"I'm great, really great. I'm still living in the city, but it's going pretty good. In fact, I met a guy last week! You'd like him, he's really chill."

"That's good."

"Tell me about it. I'm here for the weekend, we should hang out tomorrow. You have plans?"

Sasuke looked like he was thinking about it, before shaking his head no.

"Great. Well, call me when you wake up. Do you still have my number?"

"Don't think so," he said and pulled out his phone, handing it to her.

Taking it gracefully, she opened it up. Ami paused though, then handed it back to him. "Got a text from Sakura," she told him. His eyebrow raised in surprise. He took the phone, and read it.

"She wants you to answer your texts," Sasuke said, shifting slightly to look at Tenten.

"Oh? Oh, shit." She scrambled up, pulling out her cell phone. Sure enough, she had eight of them. "Uh, thanks," Tenten mumbled, opening up the first one, while he turned back to Ami.

"So, who's Sakura, eh?" Ami asked.

"A friend."

"Just a friend?" she teased.

"Just a friend, Ami."

She laughed, shaking her head as she did so. When she looked back up to him, she seemed to notice something.

"Did you dye your hair?"

"Parts of it," he answered.

"Blue, is it? Like hers? Wow, that's so cute."

"Naruto's idea," he added.

"Of course. How is that rascal?"

"He's fine."

"Is he here?"

"Yeah, somewhere."

"What about Itachi? Wouldn't mind seeing _him_," she said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Not here."

"Damn."

She shrugged her large bag off her shoulder a bit, and reached into it, pulling out a cigarette and lighter. With a casual motion, she lit the cig, and brought it to her lips.

"Maybe I'll see him tomorrow then," she mused. And, "Want?" She let the cigarette out of her mouth, exhaling as she offered it to him.

"No thanks."

"It's Newport, I know that's not your favorite, but…"

"I quit."

"Oh," she said, shocked. "When?"

"Month ago."

"Any reason why?"

"Started effected my running," he answered indifferently.

"Huh. Well, I'm gonna go, see you later." She gave him one last smile, before walking away, cigarette settled in hand.

He watched her for a second, before turning back around to look for Tenten. She was a few feet away, looking down at her phone, busily texting.

"She okay?" he asked. Tenten looked up, and blinked.

"Yeah, she seemed okay."

"I meant Sakura."

"Oh. Oh, yeah, she's fine. Her mom and her got into a fight, well. Her and her mom never fight, because Sakura doesn't ever talk back…but anyway, that was this morning, and apparently they got into another."

"She doesn't talk back?"

"Nope. Absolutely refuses to. She doesn't want to put her mom through the trouble. But, uh, apparently her faith is being shaken. It's not like her mom notices that she's restraining herself."

"I see."

Tenten nodded absently, and went back to texting, sitting down on the curb several feet away from him. He stood there, watching her – she looked different, but he couldn't place how. Then he looked down at his own phone; Ami hadn't put her number in. He didn't regret quitting, and he didn't miss her. Still, none of it felt right.

**-?-**

"Can we go to your house? I'm getting sick of mine," Naruto grumbled, watching Tenten hop into her brother's car, and drive off.

"Itachi isn't home," Sasuke said.

"Good. Then let's go there."

A shrug was the only reply.

"I saw Ami tonight," Naruto said thoughtfully.

"Same."

"I know. She asked me about Sakura and the girl you were with. She was curious about Tenten."

"Hn."

"She doesn't like her."

Sasuke rolled his eyes – Ami and Tenten didn't even say a word to each other, but of course, _girls. _

"I know, I know. But I get where she's coming from. She thinks Tenten's the one who replaced her."

"What?"

"Like your new girl 'biff'. I told her we've only known her a few weeks."

Mentally, Sasuke compared to the two. Ami, who thought sharing a bottle of beer was what made a good friend; or Tenten, who walked into his and Naruto's simple, boring life and treated it like an escape out of reality.

"She'll get over it."

Except there was nothing to get over. Few weeks or not, Tenten was already more than Ami had ever been.

**-?-**

Tenten couldn't picture it in real person, so she had to put it down on paper. It was like a challenge, and she could feel the excitement settling into her bones, no matter how uneasy her stomach was. It didn't matter that it was midnight, and that she'd probably be up for a few more hours; she pulled out her sketchpad and pencils, and started drawing. It would be Sasuke, sitting on the curb, a cigarette nonchalantly sitting in his fingers, and a scowl on his face. But under that scowl, would be the something-else. The something-else she hadn't yet figured out. The something-else she wasn't sure if she ever would.

**-?-**

Rrring! Rrring! Rrring! Rrr-

Ino reached across her nightstand to shut the alarm clock off, keeping her eyes tightly shut as she did so. She could still feel the light on her eyelids though, and cursed herself for not closing the blinds on her window last night. Mumbling incoherently, she flipped over onto her back, and started rubbing her eyes open.

It would be about ten o'clock now, and she was supposed to call Sakura in a half hour. After a few more moments of resting in bed, she finally pushed herself out, and feebly walked over to her laptop. She took a seat at the desk, turned the little machine on and listened to it whir alive.

As soon as the login page was up, she typed in her information, and waited again for it to set up. It was fairly fast though, and quickly she was on the internet, logging into MySpace. She had a few messages from her friends, as well as comments, but she skipped over them to find Shikamaru's.

_Its three o'clock, you're sleeping. I guess I'm turning in now, call me when you wake up. Love you. _

She commented back;

_It's ten o'eight, and I'm up! Remind me to shut my blinds next time though; light streaming in is very annoying. I'm not calling you, you need sleep. Lol, I have to shower and then I guess I'm making plans with Sakura. You call me when you wake up. (: I love you more bby._

Just as she said in the comment, she went to take a shower. A bathroom connected to her room that was very convenient, so she just hopped in – generally speaking, her showers took about twenty-five minutes, but she attempted to cut this one short, and by 10: 28 she was out. With a towel wrapped around her, and another in her hair, she walked to the other side of the room to get her clothes. On the dresser was her phone charging, and she saw it flashing green – meaning it was done charging, but also that there was a new 'event'.

Ino picked her phone up, disconnecting it from the charger, and flipped it open.

Text fr Shika

At 3:09am

--

I know you're not planning on calling me because I 'need sleep'.

But I actually don't. So call me.

Love you.

--

Ino laughed, and looked over to her alarm clock. 10:29 am. Ah, well, that left one minute… She pressed 'Call'.

* * *

**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is appreciated. **


	9. Art Show Part 1

A**.**Pace**.**Too**.**Fast**.**

-;_nine_ **Art Show Part 1**

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-

Standard Disclaimer Applied

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* * *

**notes: **this chapter might be boring, but in my opinion, it's leading up to the "big" chapter. :) there's an except from the book City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare that I obviously do not own.

**goal:** 70 reviews!

* * *

MONDAY

**Heey Saku**: so how was the show?

**Au Revoir Ten**: terrible – you should have been there, haha.

**Heey Saku**: lol what? Naruto said the bands were good.

**Au Revoir Ten**: yeah, they were.

**Heey Saku:** but?

**Au Revoir Ten:** some girl showed up, lol. i realize how pathetic I sound now, but. Apparently she and Sasuke and Naruto used to be rlly good friends. It was kind of intimidating.

**Heey Saku:** oh. what was her name? Maybe I've heard of her

**Au Revoir Ten:** Ami

**Heey Saku**: yuck she was smoking wasn't she?

**Au Revoir Ten**: yeh, tell more?

**Heey Saku**: well they used to have this group, in like, eighth grade. She was in it, and they were all rlly good friends. But then high school started, and they sort of split in half.

**Au Revoir Ten**: half?

**Heey Saku:** non-druggies, and druggies

**Au Revoir Ten**: ohh

**Heey Saku**: the rest was kind of vague, or I can't remember, or whatever. But then she moved to NYC & they kind of just dwindled to nothing, with Sasuke and Naruto back on their own

**Au Revoir Ten**: so they were all like, best friends?

**Heey Saku**: I guess so

**Au Revoir Ten:** mm. well I gotta go, meeting with the other kids. You coming Thursday?

**Heey Saku:** ill ask my mom, and not mention Naruto/Sasuke

**Au Revoir Ten:** lol it's not a big deal if you can't

**Heey Saku:** oh shut up, yes it is. You've only been talking about this for the past month.

**Au Revoir Ten**: heh (:

**Heey Saku**: lol ill get back to you later tonight. Have fun;

**Au Revoir Ten:** thanks. You too – cya!

It was true. Tenten had been waiting for this Art Show for the past month, and it did mean a lot to her. Her freshman year she was too young to enter in the shows, but this year she was able to. She had entered in the fall show, coming out with a Blue Ribbon – there were four blue ribbons and one gold. Gold is the one you want.

In the winter show, she returned with another blue ribbon, and the person had won the gold was the same person had won it last time too; Gaara Subuka. The quiet, shy, red-headed sophomore who no one suspected to be so freaking talented. Well, Tenten wasn't surprised. Everyone has a way of expressing their emotions and of releasing all of their suppressed energy – there had to be a lot of hidden feelings inside him.

Tenten pondered over it all, her hand absentmindedly picking up the pen in front of her and doodling on her hand. She knew that her sculptures were a way of showing everything she often hid from everyone else, and that her drawings were just ways of putting down thoughts she couldn't process, or didn't even know she had.

She knew that Sakura often wrote. Short stories that she posted on fictionpress, collecting reviews of praise and criticism to help her continue with it. The pinkette suffered from mild-anxiety, and she found comfort through this. It also occurred to Tenten that maybe Sasuke's release was by running. His shoes – black and red, thoroughly worn out, ripped a little at the edges, frayed laces, the black Nike check printed on the side…

Her phone buzzed, and she snapped out of her thoughts. The cell was sitting in front of her, so she gingerly picked it up and opened it.

Text fr Udo

At 7:15pm

--

Okay, let's go. You'll be late if we don't leave soon.

--

Tenten quickly scrambled up, grabbing her shoes, and running downstairs. She was supposed to be at the library at 7:30pm, where the Art teacher (Miss Lutz) asked all the students who had entered a piece to come for one last briefing – discussing how the schedule of the night would play out, how to get guest tickets, last minute additions, etc. The show was Thursday, just three days away; she smiled with excitement even now.

**-?-**

The other day, Sasuke had walked out on Sai. He told him that he'd be right back, but then he left the building and headed for Naruto's instead. This morning he received a text from his partner; asking if it was okay for them to meet at the library around six o'clock. Sasuke agreed, anticipating the questions as to why he disappeared at their last meeting. They never came though.

That was when he understood why Kakashi had paired him up with Sai. For whatever reason, the kid just didn't _care. _He stayed to himself, and didn't meddle in anyone else's business. Now that Sasuke realized that, it made the work go by much faster.

Finishing up around eight o'clock, Sai left wordlessly, taking all the papers with him. Sasuke was left at the library, waiting for Itachi to pick him up in a half hour. He walked around for a little while, wasting time as best as he could. Coming across the water fountain, he decided on a taking a sip, letting the cold water run on his lips more so then actually drinking it. After a long thirty seconds, he released his thumb from the button, and stood up as the water slowed to a stop.

"Sasuke?" A surprised, familiar voice rang. He turned, gently using the back of his hand to wipe his lips.

"Hey," he replied, clearly not as surprised to see her, as she was to see him.

"I see what you mean about the hair," Tenten said. "It really does stand out."

"Yeah, it does."

"So what're you doing here?" she asked, walking closer to him – after all, it was a library; 'inside voices' only.

"Project," he replied monotonously, but not spitefully. She noticed it, and acknowledged that whatever mood he was in after meeting with Sai on Saturday, he wasn't in this time. That was good. "You?" he asked.

"Huh?" For as second, she was too absorbed to remember what she had previously asked him. "Oh. Oh, just an Art meeting. Y'know, be there at five, wear all black, and so on."

"This isn't formal, is it?" he asked – a twinge of complaint on his dull voice. She laughed.

"It is. Sakura's wearing a dress y'know," she replied.

"You too?" The question wasn't as if he really wanted to know, more of a statement out loud while he thought.

"Yep – a black one," she confirmed.

"Hn. Fun." Not quite enthusiastic, but certainly not sarcastic. A pleased smile escaped onto her lips.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Well, I gotta go. They're probably waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Or talk to you tonight?" He was already taking a step away.

"Oh, yeah. I'll be online," she promised.

He nodded, turning around as he said a goodbye. She didn't let herself watch him, but called out a 'see yah' as well, and returned to her friends, her demanding bladder no longer on her mind.

TUESDAY_  
_

To Sakura's delight, school didn't take a turn for the worse – in fact, it did quite the opposite. She hadn't been worried about her grades, or 'concentrating' more on studying like her mom had wanted her to, but it still was helpful. The ironic thing, or one of them at least, was that her grades were perfectly fine. Okay, well, perhaps not 'perfect'. Her ninety-fives slipped to ninety-ones, and her A minus dropped to a B. The point was, she still had it under control.

Whatever the reason for it, the classes easing up a little bit, so it was becoming a piece cake to pull up her grades to where they had been in the first place, and as long as she avoided the computer, her mom thought she was getting 'back on track'. Right.

"It still makes no sense. You're in high school and you're meeting new people – that doesn't mean you're changing into someone horrible. Just that you're growing up. I think your parents are just in denial."

Sakura sighed, giving Ino her best "trust me, I know" look. The girls were sitting on her bed, papers thrown in front of them, but basically staying untouched. Instead, the two were talking, as if they had been friends since childhood. It nearly felt it – they had connected right away at their first meeting Sunday.

"And the whole Naruto thing is just immature. The second you become interested in a guy, they try and cut off your friendship with him," Ino went on, voicing all of Sakura's own thoughts.

"Well, it's not even that. I mean, Naruto and I are still talking, he's fine with it, I'm fine with it. It's the… I don't know, for the past few weeks I've just been running my mouth off about him. She seemed fine with it, hell; _she'd_ even laugh along with me. Then, suddenly, he's a bad influence?"

"Talk about betrayal," Ino whistled lightly.

"Yeah," Sakura sighed.

"Does Tenten's mom give her any problem about Sasuke?"

"Sasuke?" she repeated, a confused look on her face.

"Uh, _hello_, have you seen the way they look at each other? It's all dramatic, and 'you're-my-one-and-only'."

"What're you talking about?" Sakura laughed at Ino's facial expression and melodramatic voice, but felt a twist in her gut.

"I don't know," Ino shrugged carelessly, perhaps already bored with the subject. "They just look they want each other. I asked her if they were going to go out, but even if she didn't hate me, I'd doubt she admit it."

"She doesn't hate you," Sakura said, almost reflexively.

"Of course she does. A lot of girls do, I'm used to it. And, I don't really care. That's probably why they hate me even more, now that I think about it."

Sakura just raised an eyebrow, a detached sort of agreement. Ino was right actually; the careless attitude of such self-confidence did irritate Tenten. In a demented way, it might even be jealousy. Because Ino was fine with walking around doing whatever she wanted, not caring about social standings, barely pleasing the people in her own 'clique'. Tenten, on the other hand, didn't want to fit in – but she watched every step before she took it, so there'd be no way she'd cross paths with Ino or anyone else of the _other _like.

Sakura sighed. Tenten and Ino would actually get along great... maybe. It probably couldn't hurt to introduce the two.

**-?-**

_"Do you remember that song you used to sing to Isabella and Alec - when they were little and afraid of the dark - to get them to fall asleep?"_

_Maryse appeared taken aback. "What are you talking about?"_

_"I used to hear you through the walls," he said. "Alec's bedroom was next to mine."_

_She said nothing._

_"It was in French," Jace said. "The song."_

_"I don't know why you'd remember something like that." She looked at him as if he'd accused her of something._

_"You never sang to me."_

BZZZZ! Tenten heard the noise and practically jumped up, even through her laying down position on the floor. Flipping the book over so it's open pages lay flat against the floor, she then scrambled up to get her phone. Reading the caller ID, she saw the name. Hiashi Hyuuga.

"Hello," she answered after another ring, her voice leaning more towards formal than casual.

"Hello, is this Tenten speaking?"

"Yes, it is."

"Hi Tenten, its Hiashi."

"Hey Mr. Hyuuga. How can I help you?"

"Well, I was hoping for your services this Saturday, if you are available?" he asked, his voice as polite as ever. Only barely could Tenten hear that coldness that Neji seemed to tie into his voice.

"I'm free," she told him.

"Wonderful. You wouldn't mind watching over Hanabi during the afternoon to late night?"

"Not at all, I'd love too. She's a little angel."

"Oh, well, maybe to y_ou_," he chuckled. She laughed as well, light and respectful.

"If you could be over at noon, that'd be great. And of course, the pay –"

"Don't even worry about it, Mr. Hyuuga. I'll be there at twelve, the rest is frivolities."

"Alright," he agreed. She knew he was still calculating the money in his head; totally fine with her. "I should be back around two AM, the latest four."

"Sounds good," she said.

"Okay, thank you, Tenten. I'll see you Saturday."

"Okay. Goodnight, Mr. Hyuuga."

"Take care, Tenten."

They hung up, and she absentmindedly dropped her phone onto her computer chair. Returning to the floor, she picked up the book, and started where she left off.

_There was a barely perceptible pause. Then, "Oh, you," she said. "You were never afraid of the dark."_

_"What kind of ten-year-old is never afraid of the dark?" _

WEDNESDAY

__

Like always, Tenten wasn't at Lunch on time. She had no bag slung over her shoulder today though, just a few papers in her hand; ones she was attentively reading as she picked her way through the crowds, heading for their table.

"She's going to run into someone," Sakura commented with amusement.

Everyone at the table looked to where she was looking, and saw Tenten. Her hair was in a pony tail, with the blue bangs pinned back and lifted up –'pomp', that was what Sakura called it – and she was dressed in a ratty pink tee with black shorts.

"Isn't she breaking Dress Code?" Naruto asked. Shorts weren't allowed, except for on Fridays.

"Yeah, but technically she's not in school today. Or, classes at least. She's been in the Art Room the whole time," Sakura answered. And, "Oh! There we go," she laughed.

Tenten had just rammed into a tall boy with long brown hair, who immediately looked down at her with a blank face. They watched her mouth words, what looked to be a reflexive apology, before she moved past him and towards the table. That was when she noticed all of them staring at her – a bit of pink brushed onto her cheeks, but she rolled her eyes at herself and practically jogged the rest of the way over.

"What are you studying?" Naruto asked as she slid into her seat next to Sasuke.

"Gaara," she answered in monotone. Sakura groaned.

"Who is that?" Shikamaru asked, taking a bite of his Mexican pizza.

"Competition," she replied with a grunt. "They wouldn't let me read up on him while I was working on my piece."

"Who wouldn't?" Naruto questioned.

"Her, for one," Tenten replied venomously – eyes directed at Sakura. "My teacher, my friends, my partners, my brother…_everyone._"

"Everyone who knew that you'd freak out if you saw it," Sakura corrected with poise.

"And I'm not freaking out _now_?" Tenten shot back.

"Better now than the whole month."

"Yeah, but, I mean…" she trailed off, looking down at the papers with a frown.

Without bothering to ask, Sasuke took the papers from her. Her eyes lit up with protest, but she said nothing as he began to read them.

"I don't get it," Naruto declared.

"It's really not that complicated," Sakura started explaining. "Tenten and Gaara are both artists, but that's where the similarities end. One of the differences between them is the speed of how they work. Tenten focuses on one piece at a time, and doesn't touch anything else until she completes it and is absolutely satisfied with it. Gaara is more of a machine, and whips out pieces every other week, whether they're perfected or not."

"Which, never matters, because perfected or not, they're still amazing," Tenten added in with a mix of contempt and respect.

"Yeah. He's won the past few Shows, which she knew… what she didn't know is that he's also been entering in other random contests since the last one she saw him at," Sakura finished.

"Which, he won. All four of them. In case you were wondering," Tenten said sardonically.

Shikamaru grunted. "So he's been winning, what does it matter?"

"It matters because he's the little angel of the county now. His work is known throughout. So, all of the judges coming tomorrow are going to have the same little thought in the back of their heads; 'I wonder what Gaara will turn up with..'" Tenten's voice was downcast.

"A Frankenstein map?" Sasuke cut in, for the first time speaking. He dropped a paper onto the center of the table, and everyone looked at it. It was a picture of one of Gaara's winning pieces.

"It's ugly," Naruto said doggedly.

"It's _brilliant!" _Tenten disagreed immediately.

They all looked to her, but Sasuke's simple raise of the eyebrow was what caught her attention the most. She looked to him awkwardly.

"It's representing alienation. And how we're an alien to everyone, just because it's what's unfamiliar. And besides… that's an _oil _painting. Those strokes are better than Maurice Predergast's."

None of them understood what she was saying, except maybe Shikamaru. He was the one who spoke next.

"I thought we were voting, so why do the Judges matter?"

"They vote too. Your vote will count for two points, there's will count for six."

"Ah. Welcome to America," Shikamaru nodded, looking away and back to his food.

She couldn't help but laugh at his dry humor, remembering the Electoral College that they had just gone over the other day. Because of it, sometimes the popular vote had no influence – shown in the case of the Bush vs. Gore election campaign almost eight years ago.

"Well," Sasuke said. Immediately she looked over to him, and watched as he collected the papers into a neat pile. "You don't need these." Then he folded lifted them up, and ripped it straight in half. Her eyes widened.

"Hey!" she finally protested, watching him gather and rip it into smaller pieces. With a fluid movement she'd never be able to mimic, he got out of his seat and headed to the trash can. She followed.

"Contraire to _your_ belief, I do need those," she told him – grouchily, at that.

"No," he said, dropping it all into the trash. "Not really. You'll either get the gold ribbon, or you won't. Whether you do or don't, it shouldn't be about him. It's about you."

Blink. _Oh? _

He headed back towards their table, and this time when Tenten followed, she wasn't frustrated – just a little confused. Again. And under it all was still the anticipation for tomorrow. As nervous as she was, and as much as her thoughts clouded around winning, there was really only thing that she absolutely wanted: for it to be the perfect night.

* * *

**It's quite possible that I named her Art teacher after Kellan Lutz, who is playing Emmett in the upcoming Twilight movie...**

**(;**

**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated! **


	10. Art Show Part 2

A**.**Pace**.**Too**.**Fast**.**

-;_ten_ **Art Show Part 2**

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-

Standard Disclaimer Applied

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* * *

**notes:** this chapter was originally supposed to have all of the Art Show in it, but this became a lot longer then I had first thought it would be, so I figure it will be best if I put the rest into a part 3... after all, i'd hate for me to rush the ending of the night.

I edited all the other chapters, and tried making it look more pretty! go look if you'd like.

**goal: **to reach 78 reviews, and I won't update until i get it!(:

* * *

It was six o'clock in the morning on the Thursday of the Spring Art Show, and Tenten was wide awake – just as if it were the first day of school, in the aspects of excitement and anxiety. She was supposed to dress semi-formal for the day, so she had on an army green woolen skirt, a thin ivory top, and simple matching jewelry completed with ivory flats. As per usual, she kept her hair up, but left a few blue strands dangling down… she figured it looked kind of dramatic, or Victorian, or _something_.

Realizing she had ten minutes left before Udo would be taking her to school, she settled down at her desk, flipping open the laptop and turning it on. As soon as it was up and ready, she clicked onto the Mozilla icon, opening up the internet. MySpace was her home page, and she habitually logged in, typing her password more out of instinct then actual memorization.

Wasting time, she clicked through her friends, browsing the profiles with only remote interest. That is, until she came across Sasuke's, where she lingered on the page for a little longer. She noticed right away that his flashy background was gone; it was replaced with tiles of abstract black-neon designs. Still eye-catching, but not as obnoxious as the last. She smiled thoughtlessly, when her eyes froze upon recognition of his next profile addition – his top friends were unhidden. More than that, she was _on _said top.

Naruto. Shikamaru. Itachi. Tenten.

Naruto. Shikamaru. Itachi. Tenten.

She couldn't help but stare, not even recognizing the second line – Neji, Sakura, a band, Tom (famed owner of the site). Her position was _fourth._

"Tenten!"

The sound of her brother calling snapped her out of her blank, faltering smile – out of shock, surely not displeasure – and she quickly replied. "Coming!"

Well, in a second or two she would be. She clicked 'home', and was greeted by her default picture. Scrolling down, she came across her own top friends, and found the edit button for that. Moving Sasuke from nine to four wasn't even a thought she dwelled on for a second – everyone else in between the two, even Naruto who had been seventh, wasn't someone who was more … important.

"Tenten!?" Udo called again, a hint of impatience on his voice.

"Yeah, coming!" she yelled back once again.

She saved the new friends order, exited out of the internet, shut down the computer, grabbed her school bag, and jetted off. Her positivity and confidence for the day was heightened, and she found herself more eager for lunch than the actual show.

**-?-**

"You seem peppier today," Naruto commented, a smug smile on his face.

"Peppier?" Shikamaru echoed, taking his seat with ease. "Maybe."

"And why is that?"

Much like Naruto, there seemed to be a permanent smile on his face (albeit, much smaller and much more subtle) and a little more 'oomph' in his step.

"It's Ino and I's seventh month," he shrugged. The small smile crept to be a little larger, and he rearranged his binders so they were situated away in the left corner.

"Ooh," Naruto grinned. "How is the ol' girl?"

"Fine," Shikamaru said freely. "She's coming tonight," he added after a second's pause.

"Really? So is Sakura!"

"Of course she is."

"Well, yeah."

Shikamaru had a good point – Tenten and Sakura were inseparable, for the most part.

The brunette glanced at his friend. "Going to ask her, already?"

"What?" Naruto looked caught off guard.

"So when are you going to?"

"I don't know. I guess I haven't really thought about it," Naruto admitted after a pause.

"Well you should," he said, and then positioned his arms and rested his head for a short nap on the desk.

Naruto? Naruto did as he was told, and thought.

**-?-**

It seemed lunch never really started until Tenten got there. On the days when she hadn't shown, in favor of staying in the art class room, the twenty five minutes ticked on slowly, and boringly. So, every time she showed up – Sasuke honestly couldn't think of even one time she had ever been on time – it was almost a relief.

This time she was only four minutes later coming then everyone else, and her walk was slightly staggered as she made her way to the table, plopping down with an irritated look on her face. Sasuke glanced at her in question, while the others hardly noticed.

"I like socks," she said firmly. He raised an eyebrow – _what?_

"Socks, yeah, I like them," Tenten repeated, and then finally elaborated. "I mean, I wore these stupid flats, and now the back of my ankles have cuts in them. I had to get band-aids, and it just looks ridiculous."

"No one will notice," he remarked flippantly.

"I notice," she sighed. And, "How's your day going?"

"Average," he replied. Not entirely true – his curiosity over what tonight would be, left him a little bit more alert than usual, and the typical lethargic feeling wasn't enveloping him. "Yours?"

"Good," she smiled. "I feel so awake."

_Ironic._ "Nervous?" he questioned.

"Not yet, but I'll probably throw a fit once five o'clock hits."

"You're still coming at two-thirty right?" Sakura cut in, leaning behind Sasuke to talk to Tenten.

"Yep, I'm going to need help with my hair… Lutz said I should wear it down," she answered, gripping the table with her hands and balancing backwards.

"Yeah, you should. You never do."

"It looks bad down."

"Does not," Sakura scoffed.

Filled with good humor, Sasuke mimicked Tenten's position, and leaned back to cut off their view of each other.

"Should I wear mine up?" he asked, his voice all too bland and serious.

Sakura's eyes widened exponentially - as if it were her first time hearing his heavy sarcasm - but Tenten only retracted her arm from the table, an instinctive gesture to shove him playfully. Of course this set her off balance, and she tumbled backwards, falling to the ground with her legs stuck in the air.

Sakura burst out in giggles, pulling herself back to the table in amusement. Tenten just scowled, leaning up slightly to straighten her skirt back down, and then resting back down on the ground in defeat.

"Smooth, aren't I?" she remarked.

Sasuke was still leaning back, looking at her indefinitely, a tantalizing smile on his face. She stared back, entranced – she wasn't entirely sure if she'd ever heard him laugh before, but one smile was enough of an anomaly to take her breath away.

"Very," he finally agreed.

She grunted indignantly, and swatted at his face. He didn't pull away, letting her succeed with her intent. It wasn't as if she had hit him hard, more of a very light smack, and her triumphant grin was rewarding.

**-?-**

Tenten sat on the third stool at her kitchen counter, eating a banana as she watched the clock. Excitement was churning through her, along with a candid smile to match.

2:12 pm. In about eighteen minutes she'd be able to leave for Sakura's house, just as soon as Udo arrived home to take her.

Bzzz. Bzzz. Tenten felt the vibration, not even processing it as she opened it up.

"'Ello," she answered.

"Tenten?"

"Oh," Tenten stalled, placing the banana down onto the small paper plate. "Is something wrong?" It was her mom.

"No, not at all. I have a surprise for you," her mother announced.

"Oh?"

"I'm on my way home now, but I just got off the phone with Raquel. She said they had a canceled appointment, so they've got room for one more… so we can go get new styles done, okay?"

" I have an art show tonight," Tenten reminded her.

"I know!" she replied, as if she never forgot important events before. "That's why it's perfect; they'll curl it real nicely. Wear a button down shirt so you won't mess your hair up later, and do your makeup beforehand if you want. I'll be home in twenty minutes."

"Okay," Tenten replied – not bothering to mention that she never wore makeup.

"Okay," her mom repeated, and then hung up.

Tenten kept the phone to her ears for a few seconds, before sighing deeply, and taking it away from her head. Mind awhirl with thoughts, and excitement severely quelled, she dialed Sakura's number.

"Hey, you on your way?" Sakura answered a few seconds later.

"Not quite."

"What's wrong?" she asked, her tone changing from enthusiasm to concern.

"Mother called, she's taking me to the hair salon."

"Oh, well, that's good right? … Is she going to come tonight?"

"Uh, I don't know. She said she was last month, and I just mentioned it a moment ago."

"Alright. Call me when you're done okay?"

"Hm, yeah," Tenten agreed.

"Ten," Sakura scolded. "Your _mom _is taking to get your hair done, on your big night! Stop moping, this isn't a bad thing."

"Yeah, yeah," Tenten brushed off. "Talk to you later."

"Bye, Tennie."

Without a doubt, Sakura was one of the smartest people Tenten knew – in the subjects of academics as well as sociality. However, she still never understood, not with her own mother caring for her unconditionally (though, sometimes a little over protectively). It wasn't like Tenten's mom to call her, to invite her along, to welcome her within her presence. Either she was extremely bored, had bad news to deliver, or just wanted to gossip because she had no one else. It wasn't as if this act would be beneficial for Tenten herself.

**-?-**

"Ino?"

"Hey, Sakura! What's up? Oh, I tried on my blue dress, and it was way too tight around the chest, I think I'll have to go with my pink one? Well, I have the brown one, but that's so unflattering—" Ino rambled, shuffling around her walk-in closet, phone pressed to her ear.

"Why don't I just come over?" Sakura asked, laughing a little at her new friend's concerns of wardrobe.

"Really? Oh, but don't you have plans?"

"No, not anymore," Sakura said vaguely – she wasn't going to spiel out Tenten's story, it wasn't her place. "I'll bring my stuff and head over now?"

"Great. That sounds great," Ino replied eagerly.

"Okay, see you in a few."

"Mm-hm!"

**-?-**

Ms. Lutz was one of those people who just _looked _like an artist. She had curly, out-of-control black hair that reached to her shoulders, and red-framed glasses that hid the intensity of her blue eyes. Her hands were always at work – whether from cracking her knuckles or twiddling her thumbs, and her mind was always distracted, studying things in ways that not many other people saw.

An automatic, but still pleased, smile was adorned to her face as she greeted people into the gymnasium, handing them pamphlets as they came. The tedious job would have been boring had it not been for her anticipation for the night.

A head of pink hair caught her eye, and she focused on the actual group, her smile more real as she acknowledged them.

"I love your hair," she told the student approvingly. Definitely an _art _teacher.

"Thanks," Sakura smiled brightly, taking the pamphlet gracefully.

"Not a problem, dear."

Ms. Lutz moved onto the next person, and was surprised to see another… surprise. Standing in front of her was just another student, wearing a black dress shirt and skinny black pants, with a strikingly familiar aura. Her smile turned to a frown as she inspected him – deep black hair with tints of blue, large coal-colored eyes, a flawless pale skin… He, in this form didn't look familiar, but she could have sworn she had seen him before, in something _else. _

"You look very familiar," Ms. Lutz told him, an eyebrow raised curiously.

"I go to Wildehyde," he said disinterestedly.

"No, it isn't that…" Then, in that second, it clicked. _Oh!_ "I remember now. Oh, yes. Well, enjoy Hope, will you?" she said – sounding like a lunatic to Sasuke, who moved past her with a skeptical look on his face.

Naruto was laughing, as were Shikamaru and Ino. As soon as they were out of earshot of the teacher, the friends collapsed into a conversation.

"Enjoy hope? She doesn't know you very well, does she?" Naruto joked.

"Ha-ha," Sasuke replied dryly, separating each syllable with sarcasm.

"That was pretty creepy; sounded kind of religious or something," Ino acknowledged, slipping her hand into Shikamaru's.

"You're not kidding; I wonder what that was even about?" Sakura put in.

They all shrugged, except for Sasuke. His face was still filled with disinterest as she shoved his hands into his pockets. On the inside however, his mind was fevering with curiosities.

**-?-**

"Tenten dear?" a sickeningly sweet voice called out.

"Uhh?" Tenten turned around quickly, surprise shown across her face.

"Hey! How are you darling?"

"Just fine… what are you doing here?"

Tenten was getting a little worn by these family-related surprises. Standing in front of her was now her grandmother, dressed in a leopard printed business suit, her deep reddish brown hair twisted into a tight bun.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry… but you're mother called me, and…" Tenten sucked in a breath. "She couldn't make it, apparently work called in. She's really sorry she couldn't come, so she asked if I would mind coming in her place."

It wasn't even two hours ago that Tenten had departed from her mom, with her long brown and blue hair pinned back and let loose with sausage curls. But, work called? Of course.

"Oh, I see," Tenten nodded –_ 'I don't care, I'm not surprised, I don't really care…'_

"Mm, I'm so very sorry darling. But, the good news is, we can go out to eat afterwards if you'd like," her grandma smiled cheerfully – the grandma, who most people would confuse as her mom, with well good reason. That suit was tight, form-fitting, sophisticated, and stylish. Everything Tenten wouldn't wear and wouldn't be.

"Food is catered here," Tenten told her, forcing her voice to be appropriate, instead of wary.

"Oh. You don't really want catered food though, do you? I'm sure we could find something better," she replied in a low scorn.

"Yeah." It wasn't an agreement. And, "Well, enjoy yourself grandma, I've got to go."

"Right, right!"

Tenten walked away as fast as she could in her strappy black heels, but obviously wasn't paying enough attention – she walked straight into another person, and barely kept her balance so she didn't trip.

"Oh, Tenten."

Said girl looked up, surprised to find a familiar face surrounded by long, straight blonde hair.

"What are you doing here, Ino?" Her voice was filled with disbelief.

The question was answered when a tuff of pink hair caught Tenten's attention, and she took a step past Ino -- to see Sakura, fiddling with the white sash in the back of her magenta colored spaghetti strapped dress.

"Hey Tennie, how's it going?" Sakura asked nonchalantly, removing her hands from the now re-knotted sash.

Tenten blinked. Well, let's see. Her mom ruined her earlier plans, just so she could feel less guilty when she didn't show up tonight. Instead of just letting those chips fall where they would, she sent her grandmother instead. The grandmother she had long ago lost respect for, and there in forth had to struggle to keep her rude mouth shut. To top all that off, her best friend had replaced her quickly, with - of course - someone she held no particular partiality to. Tonight was taking a drastic turn for the worse.

"Pretty good," she lied.

"That's good. Uhm, I think you guys know each other. Tenten, this is Ino; Ino, this is Tenten."

"Yep, we do," Ino said cautiously.

Tenten resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yep. Well, I have to go find something, be right back," she dismissed herself, with no real intention of returning. In the back of her mind she wondered if Sasuke and Naruto were here, but quickly forgot about it – if they weren't, she'd be just that more disappointed.

Hurrying away from the two, in the opposite direction she thought her grandma was in, she traveled across to the other side of the gym and took the stairs onto the stage, ignoring all the artwork that was set up to get to the back table where any of the entered students could sit.

What really shouldn't have surprised her was the site of antisocial Gaara sitting down at the table she had been planning to go to. She stalled abruptly, and stared. He looked up, and stared back.

He had small green eyes and deep red hair, matched with a clear skin that not even freckles had touched. He was wearing a men's green V-neck along with a simple gold chained necklace. There was nothing she could think of saying to him.

"Would you like this seat?" he finally asked, not bothering to get up.

"No thanks."

"Okay."

There was another long pause, before she cleared her throat, gaining a hold of herself. "I didn't see…yours, yet."

He nodded. "I didn't see yours yet, either."

"I did see the Frankenstein map though…"

He looked at her expectantly, almost daringly.

"It was nice," she finished.

"Thank you."

They were being civil, and very polite – she didn't know about him, but she really just wanted to rip his throat out. Well, not exactly, but _something _of the type.

"Well, I'm going to go find some friends, see you later."

Of course, such things were one of the things she had been running from. After one quick nod of his, she speedily turned around, heading back the way she came.

**-?-**

At six-thirty on the dot, Ms. Lutz went to the front and center of the stage, the microphone she could barely use correctly in her hand. Someone dimmed the lights, not quite succeeding with the professional look, and she called attention with her microphone.

"Hello students, parents, judges, friends, and fellow art-lovers," she started, her smile blazing. "I am proud to announce that this is our Spring Showing of 2008, which Wildehyde has been more than happy to host. In the past hour I have greeted many of you, and seen the art work now set up. I've got to say… I'm impressed. And, I hope you all are too. In the next two hours you are welcome to roam the room and stage, go to the back of the gymnasium for dinner – which is being catered by Five Guys, whom we greatly thank, and talk to the students who have put much, much effort into their work.

"Each piece of art will have a red number by it, so keep the number of your favorites in mind. At ten o'clock we ask that all votes be taken; if you see this table to my right, there is a large box where your votes will go in. We can support you with paper and a writing utensil. The rules are to only vote once, to write legible, and to vote fair. I'll be sitting at the table all night if you have any questions. Alright, thank you everyone, enjoy the evening!"

Tenten was clenching and unclenching her first nervously, standing in the very back of the group of people, listening only barely to her teacher, mentor, and even friend. When a soft touch landed on her shoulder, she practically jumped.

"Nervous," Sasuke said faintly, lips curved in a familiar smirk.

"Yes," she admitted without hesitation, glancing away from him.

"I want to see him," he told her after a few seconds.

"Demon-baby?"

"Aa."

"Okay," she agreed. It was at that second, when she realized what she was doing – taking Sasuke to her precious piece, the little item that had consumed most of her time recently, the thing she felt so very proud of – that she realized just how _naked _this was making her feel. It was a big part of her now, this little demon-baby. What if he didn't like it? What if he thought it was stupid – just like the Frankenstein Map? What if it – what if _she – _wasn't good enough?

Tightening her first once again at her side, they headed for the stage, which she easily walked up, although in her uncomfortable heels. He followed silently, seeing the way her shoulders were positioned too tightly, her jaw too square, her hands at such unease.

Not a moment later she stopped, abruptly in front of a stand that read "number 14". Sasuke tore his eyes away from her, and onto the artwork that he had long anticipated seeing.

And what he saw was not what he was expecting. A mangled piece of clay, that somehow looked beautiful – that's what he saw in his head, every so vaguely. The thing in front of him, however, was not 'somehow' beautiful. It just was.

The clay was not fired; he knew that much from his one semester of art. Instead, it was just hardened; creating a deformed body that was, in all senses, "rough around the edges". He could make out the head, the torso, the legs, and the one arm – each were twisted and hideous, clearly getting across the idea of pain. Demon-baby's face was not in detail, but the agony stretched across the carved-in lips was uncannily accurate.

The undeniable beauty came in the form of the baby's other arm. At the shoulder mark, it started off just as warped as the rest of him. However, it slowly transformed, turning into a smooth and delicate forearm, wrist, hand, and fingers. The contrast was so severe, even without color, and the details were so precise, he doubted there was one single imperfection.

There was _some_ color in the piece, though. But it wasn't in the form of clay. In the baby's undestroyed hand was one, simple flower – a carnation, probably just one dollar, in the color of yellow. It was holding onto the flower, its fingers wrapped tightly and desperately around the green stem.

Sasuke spent a good five minutes, staring at it, looking at every detail – and always, his eyes returned to the perfect arm, holding onto the flower as if it's very existence depended on it.

He was about to finally look away, when he caught notice of a tiny placard, one that read its title. _Last Grip on Hope. _His eyes darted to Tenten's, appearing to be blank, although his mind was not.

"Do you like it?" she asked quietly, eyebrows knitted together.

He avoided that question for now, and instead pointed towards the flower. "You didn't tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"This." His hand wavered from the flower, to the placard, and then back down to his side. When he returned his eyes to her, he knew she understood.

"Oh," she breathed. "I don't really like to talk about… the deeper meaning. It makes me sound silly."

"It shouldn't," he replied briskly.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Uhm. You want me to explain?" She hadn't really made it a question though, since she already knew the answer. He nodded once.

Tenten's eyes looked away from him, and focused in on her piece. After a long moment of studying it, she explained to him – explained to him what it had meant to her, what she was aiming for, what she most obviously succeeded in.

"The body is malformed, twisted and bent. He's in pain, but not the physical kind. It's all internal, and his mind is being tortured relentlessly. Insanity and depression have taken their hold over him, absolutely ruining him. The expression on his face represents his distaste for the situation – it's not something he wants to be dealing with, and he can hardly endure it as it is, but it isn't something he has any control over. It's the arm that is most important, not exactly the flower. But the flower is symbolizing hope. Hope for something new, hope for change, hope for love – it could be anything, but it's mostly centered on the hope of escape. All he wants is to get away, to be out of the Hell he's at. Now the arm… well, the part of the arm closest to the flower – to the hope – is untouched by the deformities, and the part that is further away is ruined just as the rest of him is. It's showing him that he's almost there, if he can just hold on."

By now she was leaning towards the piece, her fingers delicately touching one of the yellow petals. "So, technically, he is a demon-baby. I mean, he _is _in Hell. Just not the underworld kind, more of the mental kind," she finished.

Slowly, Tenten turned her gaze onto him. He was staring at the flower, or more accurately, her hand enveloped around the flower. "He isn't too bad, is he?"

"No," Sasuke answered immediately.

"That's good," Tenten mumbled softly, pulling away from the piece, not sure if she should be satisfied with his answer or not.

There were a lot of compliments he could have forfeited from his lips, but none of them seemed commendable enough. Eventually, he decided on a simple, indirect one – his usual fashion.

"Worthy of my vote."

"Thanks," she said, a half-smile gracing her features. After all, it was one thing to have him vote for her because she was a friend, and another because she was an artist.

* * *

**notes: **those of you who are more _intuitive_ might have realized why i gave you details on Last Grip Of Hope. and those of you who are more _aware _might have realized that i'm pulling this Art Show stuff straight out of thin air. sorry, i only write, definitely don't sculpt or draw!

the links of Sakura, Ino, and Tenten's dresses are on my page :)!

**Questions, Comments, Concerns?**

**Feedback is _so _appreciated. **


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